1 


^^^ 



5 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS J 
# # 

# W |opMlit Mo. ._. I 

^ -&5'f # 

I UNITED STATES OP AR'IERICA. | 



THE 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



OF THE STATES, 



AND THE 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOEY 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES. 



\i^ 



By pf CUDMORE, Esq., 

Cotjnseixor-at-Law, 
Author of the ^^ Irish BepulUc^''^ etc.y etc. 



\ 
New York: 
PUBLISHED BY P. CUDMORE, No. 5 BARCLAY STREET. 

1875. 



■i^.HiHG^^^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, 

By p. CUDMORE, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



DEDICATION. 



TO THE MEMORY 

OF THE 

Fathers of the Constitution of the United States of America, 

AND the 
Adyocates of Liberty, 

THIS YOLITME is MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
BY THE 

AUTHOR. 



PEEPACE. 



The object of tlie author has been to condense into one volume the 
Colonial, General, and Constitutional History of the United States. 
This volume is a digest of the writings and speeches of the fathers 
of the Constitution of the United States, eminent American and 
foreign Jurists, the journals and annals of Congress, the Congressional 
Glohe, the General History of the United States, the Statutes of the 
several States, the Statutes of the United States, the Decisions 
of the Supreme Courts of the several States, the Opinions of the 
Attorneys General of the United States, and the Decisions of the 
Supreme Court of the United States ; of extracts from De Tocqueville, the 
Madison Papers, the " Federalist,'^ ^^ Elliott's Debates," the writings of 
Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and Vattel, and of extracts from Jefferson, and 
other eminent authors on parliamentary law. The platforms of political 
parties are also given. The chapters on Colonial History and Civil Gov- 
ernment will be found, at this time especially, instructive and useful. 
The author most respectfully hopes that this work will be welcomed by 
the legal profession, the press, and the statesmen of America. The quota- 
tions from the several authors are given in the language of the authors 
themselves. Those who wish to understand the structure of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States (State and Federal), will find this volume a 
useful, reliable, and convenient manual and book of facts and reference. 

The causes and consequences of the recent American Civil War are 
given. The history of Land Grants, the Homestead Law, and the laws 
pertaining to aliens and naturalization, will be found instructive. The 
author has studiously endeavored to make this work a useful treatise on 
our complex form of Government, including Colonial, State, Federal, 
Territorial, County, Town, and Parish. 

For the terms of office of Governors and Members of the State Legisla- 
tures mentioned in this book, the reader is referred to the Constitutions 
of the several States as they were in 1848. 



New York, Juli/, 1875. 



THE CIYIL GOYERNMENT OF THE STATES, 

AND THE 

COISTITUTIOML HISTORY 

OF THE 

UIITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I.— COLONIAL HISTORY. 

The first settlement of Englishmen in North America was attempted in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Her first patent was to Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert in 1578. An abortive attempt to settle a colony in Virginia was made 
by Sir Walter Raleigh, in this reiga under a transfer of Gilbert's patent. In 
the year 1603 one hundred and ten years after the discovery of the New 
Worlds there was not an Englishman in America. In 1606, the Spaniards 
had established posts in Florida, and the French had settlements in New 
France, afterwards named Canada. 

James I of England, who succeeded Elizabeth, by an ordinance, April 10, 
1606, divided all of North America lying between 34 and 45 degrees of lat- 
itude into two districts. The first district was called Southern Virginia ; 
and the second. Northern Virginia (Plymouth Colony) which was changed 
to New England. 

Southern Virginia was granted to the London company in 1607, by James 
I, and Northern Virginia, (Plymouth Colony) or New England was granted 
to the Plymouth company November 3,1620, composed "of forty noblemen, 
knights and gentlemen, called the council," established at Plymouth, in the 
county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, and governing New England in 
America, with the Earl of Warwick as head of the corporation. 

South Virginia extended from the parallel of 34 to 40 degrees, and from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. The first settlement, under the Grant to the 
London company, was made at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The 
management of the colony was given to Christopher Newport and Captain 
John Smith. "The general superintendence of the colonies was vested in 
a Council, resident in England, named by the king, and subject to all 
orders and decrees under the sign manual; and the local jurisdiction was 
intrusted to a Council also named by the king, and subject to his instruc- 
tions which was to reside in the colonies. Under these auspices, commenced, 
in 1607, the first permanent settlement in Virginia." — Moore's Int. to the 
lives of Govs. Ply. & Mass. p. 9. In 1607, a new charter was granted 
to the company. The colony was to be governed by a governor and coun- 
cil. This was a close corporation. The aristocracy of England, at this 
period of English history, had little respect for the people. Indeed the idea 



6 CIYIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

of a government of the people was repugnant to the aristocracy or wealthy 
classes of England. The governor was appointed by the Company. — Quack- 
enbos, 73. The people of England had no idea of a Town Meeting as a 
body politic or a town meeting-^" where the people met in their aggregate 
capacity to elect local officers." For in England, the country was divided 
into counties, which were represented by Knights elected, generally, by 
the land owners. There were also certain boroughs represented by bur- 
gesses, generally, representing the mercantile interests. The idea of the 
people meeting in their collective capacity, as in the Republics of 
Greece, was unknown in England. — Blackstone, vol. i, pp. 159-160. 
In 1619, the people of Virginia were able to obtain a voice in 
the government of the colony. Virginia colony was divided into 
eleven boroughs; and two members from each borough formed the 
House of Burgesses, in imitation of the British House of Commons. This 
assembly was the first house of representatives in America. — Quack. 76. As 
the people were poor and lived in log-cabins they did not think of forming 
a House of Lords. It might be here remarked that the Southern Colonies 
followed the institutions and laws of old England which suited their wants 
and condition. That the people of all the colonies borrowed their laws 
from the English model, except the Puritans of New England, who followed 
the laws of Moses — the Bible was the basis of their laws and govern- 
ment. — Moore's Lives Govs. Mass. 77. And as the colonists of Virginia 
were of the Church of England, they established parishes and maintained 
the clergy with tithes as in England. 

Slaves were brought to Virginia in a Dutch man-of-war. The crown of 
England became jealous of the extensive powers and territory of the London 
company. And at last King James I dissolved this great monopoly — this 
overgrown corporation. The executive powers were in this corporation. 
King Charles I recognized the authority of the Assembly of Virginia. And 
as the struggle in England was between Charles and the Parliament — the 
latter being Puritans, and the former of the Church of England, Virginia 
took part with the king. The authorities banished all who would not use 
the liturgy of the Church of England. So Virginians, as well as the Puritans 
were intolerant — both established church and state. — Quack. 101. We 
see an antagonism between the South and New England when both held 
slaves. In 1758, the legislature of Virginia passed an act that the people 
might commute for the tobacco, in money, a tribute which had to be paid 
to the ministers of the Church of England. For in the early days of the 
colony tobacco was the usual currency ; for nearly all payments were made in 
tobacco, as afterwards in the Western States, men had to take what was then 
called "store pay," that is, an order on a store for goods. Virginia, in a 
great measure, retained the old English aristocratic customs and prejudices 
of caste. The land holders, as in the old country, in that age, were the 
aristocracy. They were called the upper class, and the landless the lower 
class. The upper class was principally attached to the crown. The 
people of the South and of New England were dissimilar in politics, 
religion, manners and customs — they were not of the same race. The 
Virginians were the descendants of the Normans — ^^ Cavaliers ;^^ and the 
Puritans of the Saxons, or ^'' Boundheads.'''' The colony of Virginia 
restricted the right of suffrage to householders ; and made the English 
church the state church. And it compelled attendance at the wor- 
ship of this church under penalty of twenty pounds. Penal laws 
were passed against Quakers and Baptists. The colonial legislature and 
Governor Berkeley were the embodiment of despotism. Berkely is reported 
to have said, ' ' I thank God that there are no free schools or printing, and 



CONSTITUTIONAIi HISTOKY OF UNITED STATES. 7 

I hope that we shall not have them these hundred years ! ", This was the 
status of the colonial legislature of Virginia until Bacon's rebellion, in 1776, 
when the old intolerant legislature was dissolved and a more liberal one 
elected. The governors of the colony were appointed by the king. 

The Carolinas — North Carolina. 
The Carolinas were settled under the auspices of Charles II, of England. 
The colony was granted, in 1663, to Edward Clarendon, Lord Albemarle, 
the Earl of Shaftesbury and others. The people established a House of 
Representatives. A short time after this, the colony was divided into North 
and South Carolina. In 1689, North Carolina banished her proprietary 
Governor. — Willard, p. 120. 

South Carolina. 
In 1685, the French Hu-gue-nots, or French Protestants, settled in South 
Carolina. Governor Colleton was sent over from England, by the proprietors 
of the colony to govern the people. He was opposed by the Assembly of 
the people, and finally banished from the colony, in the reign of William 
and Mary. — Quack, p. 130. So the people of the Carolinas, dressed in 
"homespun and deer-skins," were considered the "freest of the free." 
They could not yield to the despotism of the proprietary governors. They 
wanted to rule themselves. They wanted a home governor. 

Maryland. 
(After the Queen, Henrietta Maria of France.) Maryland, though a part of 
the territory granted to the London company, was granted to George Cal- 
vert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632. Though a Lord, he was democratic in 
principle. His son Cecil granted liberty of conscience to all men. The 
first settlement of the colony was made at the village of St. Mary's. " Mary- 
land was the first to proclaim universal suffrage, and to introduce the most 
democratic forms into the conduct of the government." — De Tocqueville 
p. 32. Maryland was settled principally by Catholic Irish who granted 
liberty of conscience to all who believed in Jesus Christ. The majority of 
the settlers were Irish Catholics. Maryland was a refuge for all who fled 
from religious persecution from Europe, New England, and Virginia. The 
people met in one assembly and voted. Every freeman had a vote without 
religious or property test. The assembly was composed of members chosen 
by the people. At first the legislature was composed of one house, but 
afterwards of two houses. The Upper House was chosen by the proprietors, 
and the Lower House by the people. The Protestants, who flocked from 
persecution and took refuge in Maryland, soon obtained a majority, and 
strange to say persecuted the Catholics. 

Delaware. 
The colony of Delaware was founded by Swedes and Fins. It was con- 
quered by the Dutch; and brought under the dominion of New Nether- 
lands, the name given to the Dutch colony in North America. The 
colonists remained quietly under the Dutch Government and with the 
Dutch passed under the dominion of England, in 1664. 

New York. 
In 1625, Peter Minuets bought the whole Island of Manhattan from the 
Indians for $24. The Dutch built the city of New Amsterdam, now New 
York. The Hollanders settled on Long Island, Staten Island, and New 



8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Jersey. The colony was under the control of the home government and 
the governors of New York. The Governors of New Netherland were 
military governors; the people had no voice in this military despotism. 
The will of the governor ol the garrison was supreme. At length de- 
puties from the Dutch villages met in Assembly, and they demanded a 
government of the people. The government would not concede to their 
demands. The Dutch had no idea of a town meeting. In 1664, New 
Netherlands fell under the dominion of England, and it was called New 
York, in honor of the Duke of York, afterwards King James II, of Eng- 
land. The power of Holland ended in North America. 

New Jersey. 
In 1664, the region between the Hudson and the Delaware was granted to 
Berkeley and Carteret, and was called New Jersey. The people established 
a colonial Assembly. The early settlers were Quakers and Dutch. 

Pennsylvania. 
The Quakers, goaded by persecution in their native England, sought the 
wilds of America, and settled in New Jersey, in 1675. The early settlers 
of New Jersey were Quakers and Dutch. In 1681, William Penn obtained from 
Charles II a tract of land west of the Delaware, which was called Pennsyl- 
vania, or the woody land of Penn. Within this territory were settlements 
of Dutch and Swedes. The spot where now stands the city of Philadelphia 
was purchased by Penn from the Swedes. Penn also purchased the good- 
will of the Indians. The people who emigrated to Pennsylvania with Penn 
were Englishmen. They followed the institutions of England, so far as 
they were suitable to their condition and circumstances. They divided the 
colony into counties, the same as in England. Six members were chosen 
annually from each county to the Assembly or Legislature. The people 
were represented in the Assembly. They had no idea of a town meeting, as 
a local government. All freemen had a vote who believed in God and kept 
the Lord's day holy. Murder alone was punished with death. — Quackenbos 
124. Penn was proprietary governor. 

Georgia. 

In 1732, James Oglethorpe, a member of the British Parliament, obtained 
from George II a charter of the country west of the Savannah river. 
Oglethorpe was the proprietary governor. In 1752, the trustees resigned 
Oglethorpe's charter to the king. The Kings of England were willing 
enough, at first, to grant large tracts of country to favorites with a view to 
settlement. They allowed their favorites to exercise supreme authority 
while the settlements contained but a few persons, who had to contend 
with poverty, famine and the savages. But when the colonies became pop- 
ulous and the people had money and property to be taxed, the kings became 
jealous and wished to revoke the charters and take the government of the 
colonies under their immediate control and authority. Moreover, they 
dreaded the idea of self-government which was making such rapid strides in 
the colonies. They wished to have governors over the colonies chosen by 
the crown. From the moment that the Kings of England revoked or com- 
pelled the colonies to surrender their charters, we may date the struggle for 
independence, which increased in intensity as the colonies acquired wealth, 
intelligence and population. The colonists were thrown on their own re- 
sources on the wild shores of America, to contend with poverty, famine 
and hostile Indians. In the stern school of adversity they learned the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 9 

science of self-government. While in their log-cabins, dressed in home- 
spun and deer-skins, they lost respect for royalty and aristocracy. The 
youth born and educated in the colonies, in the wilds of the forest, in con- 
tact with the "free and independent Redmen," disdained not only the gov- 
ernors sent over by England, but all manner of royalty and aristocracy. 
Thus, we see that the Southern States were settled by a very different class 
of Englishmen from those who settled New England, while the inhabitants 
of the Middle States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania,^ 
and Maryland differed from both, they being made up of different nation- 
alities and religions. 



CHAPTER II.— NEW ENGLAND. - 

The first settlement of New England was made by the Puritans, 
a peculiar people, who dissented from the Church of England, "as 
lyy law established,''^ in 1602, in the reign of James I, King of England. 
They formed an independent congregation. They elected their 
own minister. Richard Clifton and James Robinson were chosen. — 
Moore's Lives Govs. Ply. and Mass. p. 12. Persecution was the order of the 
times. Archbishop Banchroft and Laud, of Canterbury, persecuted the 
Puritans with unrelenting severity and cruelty. Exposed to all the rigor of 
English penal laws, which the British government could enforce, the Puritans 
were compelled to leave their homes in their native land, and seek new homes 
in foreign countries. Robinson and his congregation fled from the cruel laws 
of England and took refuge in Holland, in 1609. In consequence of the war 
between Spain and Holland the Puritans resolved on emigrating to America, 
where they would be free to retain their religion, laws, customs and language 
unmolested. They considered themselves in the like situation as the Israel- 
ites, and did not want to mix with any other people or religion. They feared 
that if they should remain in Holland their people would become absorbed 
in a foreign nation. — Ihid. 14. In 1617, Robert Chushman and John Carver 
were sent to England to negotiate with the London company with a view 
to settle in Virginia, and also to ascertain if the king would grant liberty 
of conscience. Though the king promised that he would not molest them, 
he refused to grant them, by public authority under the seals, liberty of 
conscience. After some negotiations with the London company of Vir- 
ginia a patent was obtained under the company's seal, in the name of John 
Wincomb, who was to accompany the Puritans to America. — Ban- 
croft, vol. i, p. 305. This patent and the proposals of a London mer- 
chant, named Thomas Weston, were carried to London, in 1619, for the 
consideration of the Puritan congregation. November 3, 1620, a 
territory, extending from 40 to 48 degrees of North latitude 
and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was granted to a company of 
forty persons, with the Earl of Warwick at its head, by James I. This 
patent is the basis of all subsequent grants, patents or charters of New 
England. — Moore's Govs. Ply. and Mass. 10. The company had full control 
over this vast territory, subject to the authority of the king. Meantime, in 
1620, Weston went to Leyden, Holland, and the Puritans entered into an 
agreement with him, that he should supply them with money and shipping 
to take them to America. The Speedwell, commanded by Capt. Reynolds, 
and the Mayflower by Capt. Jones, sailed for America. Both ships had put 
to sea, but the Speedwell was unfit for the voyage, and on September, 1620, 



10 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

the Mayflower^ with one hundred and one passengers, besides the ship's 
officers and crew, sailed for America, with the intention to settle within 
the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, on the Hudson river. But they 
were driven further north by the winds and perils of the sea, and by force of 
necessity they landed on Plymouth Rock. 

As many New England orators and public men claim that their ancestors 
came over in the Mayflower^ we give the following for their benefit : 

The names of the subscribers are placed in the following order, those 
who brought wives, marked with a dagger (f), and those who died before 
the end of the next March, distinguished by an asterisk (*). 

1. Mr. John Carver, f- --.--- 8 

2. Mr. William Bradford, f - - - - - - 2 

3. Mr. Edward Winslow, t ----- 5 

4. Mr. William Brewster, f- - -- - -6 

5. Mr. Isaac Allerton, t- - - - - - 6 

6. Capt. Miles Standish, f- - - - - -3 

7. John Alden, ------- 1 

8. Mr. Samuel Fuller, ------- 3 

9. * Mr. Christopher Martin, f ----- 4 

10. * Mr. William Mullins, t - - - - - - 5 

11. * Mr. William White, f (1) - - - - - 5 
13. Mr. Richard Warren, -- - - - - -1 

13. John Howland, (2) 

14. Mr. Stephen Hopkins, t- - - - • - 8 

15. * Edward Tilly, t 4 

16. * John Tilly, t - - - - - - - 3 

17. Francis Cook, -------2 

18. * Thomas Rogers, ------ 2 

19. * Thomas Tinker, t - - - - - - - 3 

20. * John Ridgdale, f - - - - - - 2 

21. * Edward Fuller, t - - - - - - - 3 

22. * John Turner, - - - - - - - 3 

23. Francis Eaton, t- - - - - - -3 

24. * James Chilton, t - - - - - - 3 

25. * John Crackston, (3) - - - - - - 2 

26. John Billington, f ------ 4 

27. * Moses Fletcher, ------- 1 

28. * John Goodman, - - - - - - - 1 

29. * Degory Priest, (4) - - - - - - - i 

30. * Thomas Williams, ------ 1 

31. Gilbert Winslow, - - - - - . - - 1 

32. * Edmund Margeson, - ----- 1 

33. Peter Brown, - - - - - - - 1 

34. * Richard Britlerige, - - - - - - 1 

35. George Soule, (5) 

36. * Richard Clarke, ------- 1 

37. Richard Gardiner, - - - - - - 1 

38. * John Allerton, ------- 1 

39. * Thomas English, - - - - - - 1 

40. Edward Dotey, (6) - - - - - 

41. Edward Leister, (6) - - 

Total persons ------ 101 

Of whom were subscribers to the compact - - 41 



CONSTITUTIONAIi HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 11 

(1) Besides a son born in Cape Cod Harbor, named Peregrine. 

(2) Of Governor Carver's family. 

(3) Morton writes his name Craxton. 

(4) In Morton, Digery Priest. 

(5) Of Governor Winslow's family. 

(6) Of Mr. Hopkins' family." 

(Moore's lives Gov. Ply. & Mass. page 26.) 

The Virginia patent was useless, as they had settled without the juris- 
diction of the London company, and within the limits of the Plymouth 
company. They had no authority from any government or power. They 
were reduced to a state of nature and could establish a government for 
themselves. They had no protection from the government of England, 
but were treated as persons outside the pale of the British laws. Being 
reduced to a state of nature, they were free to make laws for their own 
protection and safety. They claimed the right to choose their own govern- 
ment and make their own laws. — Vide Vattel's Law of Nations, Book i, 
chap. 4. pp. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. Blackstone's Comm. vol. i, page 245; 
1 Kent's Comm. pp. 208,209. The emigrants to New England and the 
other colonies had this advantage that they had ^^ neither lords nor common 
people, neither rich nor poor." 

On the voyage one man died, and a boy, the son of Stephen Hopkins, was 
born — called Oceanus. November 10, 1620, the Mayflower anchored in the 
harbor of Cape Cod 42 degrees north latitude, within the territory of New 
Plymouth. Here the first Englishman, Peregrine White, was born in the 
colony, on board of the Mayflower, in Cape Cod harbor, Nov. 1620. The 
last survivor of those who came over in the Mayflower was Mary Church- 
man, daughter of Isaac Allerton. The Pilgrims met in the cabin of the 
Mayfl/)wer and drew up articles of association. This may be called the first 
convention in the United States. These articles were a constitution for the 
government of the colony. At this meeting, they pledged themselves to 
be governed by the rule of the majority — "to submit to such government 
and governors, as we should by common consent agree to make and choose." 
The Puritans were opposed to monarchy, so thought King James I in 1604, 
when he said of the Puritans, " You are aiming at a Scots presbytery, which 
agrees with monarchy as wejl as God with the devil ! I will have none of 
that liberty as to ceremonies." — Bancroft, vol. i, p. 298 ; Neal, ii, 52 ; Moore's 
Lives Govs. Ply & Mass. p. 24, with notes. After this compact was signed, 
John Carver was elected governor, by a unanimous vote,for one year. This was 
the first government of the people in America, where the people made their 
own laws, elected their own officers, civil, military and ecclesiastical, without 
patent, grant, charter or authority from any king or power in the world. 
This was establishing a democratic government in the wilds of America. 
The Puritan clergy were elected by the congregation. The Puritans were 
a joint-stock company. They mortgaged their labor to London merchants 
who supplied them with means to emigrate to America. They had to work 
on the credit system. The London merchants who supplied the Puritans 
with ships and money had a monopoly of the trade of the colony. They were 
adventurers. They were also shareholders in the colony. They relinquished 
all their rights to the colony for £1,800 sterling. There was no oath of 
office required of John Carver, as he had no patronage. There was no 
danger of political corruption. The politicians did not get rich on the 
people's money. The people were poor, frugal, and they possessed a 
stern and unflinching honesty. They did not want idlers ; they de- 
spised " a proud heart, a dainty tooth, a beggar's purse, and an idle hand." 



13 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

From the nature of their compact, being a joint-stock company, they 
established a community of goods. They planted one field in common 
with corn ; they found the seed in an Indian mound. All had to work, 
even the governor of the colony. They worked like bees. They had no 
drones in the hive. Oh, shades of the Puritans ! ! no Long Branch for the 
government to live in kingly style! ! ! 

While every man worked in common, the people suffered great priva- 
tions, and in some instances suffered from famine — at one time they were 
so far reduced as to live on five grains of parched corn each daily. They 
would have perished only for the supply of fish. They had to share with the 
new emigrants who came to the colony. In 1623, Governor Bradford is re- 
ported to have said, "By the time our corn is planted, our victuals are 
spent ; not knowing at night where to have a bit in the morning, and have 
neither bread nor corn for three or four months together." — Moore 68. Such 
was the state of the colony during the time they had a community of goods. 
So the colonists, in violation of their agreements with the London ad- 
venturers afore-mentioned, in the spring of 1623, agreed that every "family 
should plant for themselves, on such ground as should be assigned to them 
by lot." 

They had but one boat in the whole colony, and parties of seven men fish- 
ed in their turn for the benefit of the whole colony, when a deer was killed 
it was divided among the whole people of the congregation or colony. The 
people, while a community of goods lasted, lived whole days on fish and 
ground-nuts ! They were in debt and had to pay 30 per cent, per annum for 
money. But after every man was able to work for himself, industry was en- 
couraged, and the people of the colony, in 1629, were free from the debt they 
owed the London adventurers, and they were freemen ! So much for 
communism. There never was a time, since Adam was expelled from Eden, 
more favorable than this to try the experiment of a community of goods, as 
the Puritans were all of one nation, religion, manners, customs, and habits 
and spoke the same language. They were as one family. They were one 
congregation — all governed by public opinion and religion. They were as 
one family. Yet while they were one corporation — all one partnership con- 
cern — all possessing a community of goods, they were in a state of starvation. 
But when every man was for himself, they soon paid off the debt of the 
colony and sent for their friends to Holland. 

The pilgrims followed the example of the Jews — like them they claimed 
to be the chosen of the Lord. They united church and state. The govern- 
ment of the colony was composed of the church and the congregation. — 
Moore's lives. Govs. Ply. & Mass, 284, 289, 290, 291, 300, 318. The 
governor was elected by the people, in town meeting, the same as we now 
elect Town Officers. The whole body of the people or congregation elected 
their own officers, and transacted all business pertaining to the church and 
the state. While Governor Carver lived, the whole people had a vote. Both 
clergy and congregation, with the governor as chairman, met in one as- 
sembly, like the Greek Republics, and made laws and regulations for the 
colony. The town meeting was both court and legislature. The governor 
possessed no power but that of a magistrate. He could arrest criminals, 
but they were tried before the whole body of the people, as judicial and 
legislative power was then vested in the whole body of the people in town 
meeting. The governor presided the same as the foreman of a Grand Jury. 
He was the sole executive officer of the colony. He had no patronage, as 
he had neither the power to nominate or appoint to office. All officers, 
civil, religious and military, were elected by the people. The governor was 
moderator and with his deputies presided at town meetings — voting was 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 13 

by ballot. In time, the franchise was confined to freemen, who had taken 
a freeman's oath. There was no distinction or exemption from military 
duty— all had to stand "watch," even the clergy. The highest military 
officer in the colony was Captain Miles Standish. The town was impaled; 
and cannon planted on the roof of the church. The people met in town 
meeting on a common plain. It was an assembly of the sovereign people — 
for sovereignty was in the people ; for they acknowledged no higher law-mak- 
ing power. ' ' They perpetually exercised the rights of sovereignty ; they 
named their magistrates, concluded peace or declared war, made police reg- 
ulations, and enacted laws as if their allegiance was due only to God." — 
De Tocqueville, p. 19. 

For the English laws were repudiated, in 1636, by the declaration in the 
cabin of the Mayflower. New Plymouth entered upon the record, Novem- 
ber 15, 1636, that ^^the authority of the English laws, ' at present or to come ' 
is expressly renounced and Parliament denied the right of legislating for the 
colony.'''' This was perfectly right as the Puritans were denied the protec- 
tion of the King of England. They were reduced to a state of nature, and 
were free to make laws for themselves. — Vattel's Law of Nations, book i, 
chapter 4, pp. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. Kent's Comm., vol. i, pp. 208-9. 
Blackstone's Comm., vol. i, page 245. Thus the town meeting is the parent 
of the Colony and the State mass-meetings and constitutional conventions. 
" The Republic was already established in every township." — De Tocqueville, 
28, Governor John Carver was succeeded by William Bradford, in 1621. The 
first change from the "time-honored town meetings," the fear and dread of 
kings, a stumbling-block to the Kings of England, and the royal governors sent 
over to govern New England — or the general court, where the whole people 
assembled for executive, legislative, and judicial business together, was the 
appointment of an assistant, or deputy governor. In time, the assistants were 
increased to five and afterwards to seven. The Puritans had no charter of 
title either from the king or the Plymouth company. The first patent was 
taken in the name of John Pierce, and the second in the name of William 
Bradford, in trust for the colony, in 1629. In 1640, Governor Bradford 
snrrendered this patent to the general court — this title was as good as the 
crown of England could make it. In 1636, the Puritans declared their 
" lawful right to their lands in respect of vacancy, donation, and purchase 
of the natives." In Bradford's patent was granted the right of fishery 
in Maine, and a tract of land of fifteen miles on each side of the Kenne- 
beck river. In the patent was the following enabling clause to empower 
the colony to " enact such laws as should most benefit a state in its nonage, 
not rejecting or omitting to observe such of the laws of their native 
country as would conduce to their good." The patent granted to William 
Bradford provided "to frame and make orders, ordinances and constitu- 
tions, etc." In 1634, an important change took place in the colony. The 
governor and assistants were constituted the judicial court, and afterwards 
the supreme judiciary of the colony, Tbe government was remodelled. 
The Executive and Judiciary vested in the governor and seven assistants, 
the town meeting remaining the assembly or general court. In 1639, the first 
assembly of the colony met. It was composed of four deputies from the 
old town of Plymouth, and two from each of the other towns. In 1649, the 
legislature or general court was composed of members from each town. 
These deputies to the general court or legislature were chosen from the 
freemen of each town. 

The towns were governed by town officers called selectmen, who had 
jurisdiction in civil cases where the amount did not exceed forty shillings, 
with the right of appeal to the court of assistants. In 1649, the qualification 



14 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

of a voter or freeman was that he should be "twenty-one years of age, of a 
sober and peaceable conversation, orthodox in the fundamentals of religion, 
and possessed of twenty pounds ratable estate." — Moore's Life of Governor 
Bradford, p. 75. Prior to 1634, the governor and assistants possessed only 
the power of magistrates. They could only arrest and bind over criminals 
to the general court which was the town meeting — they had no civil juris- 
diction. The general court, in 1636, established a body of organic laws 
for the colony. November 15, 1636, the people met, and promul- 
gated a declaration of independence. This was the first American decla- 
ration of independence. Henceforth the British statutes had no 
force in the colony, except by the authority of the general court. 
Indeed from this period we may date the time when acts of parlia- 
ment passed subsequent to the 15 Nov., 1636, ceased to have force or validity 
in the colony of Plymouth. It is a nice question whether this declaration 
did not repudiate all acts of parliament in the colony after the promulgation 
of this order. — Moore's Governors of New Plymouth, 144. I believe that 
the courts of Massachusetts, after the union of the two colonies of Massa- 
chusetts and Plymouth, gave judicial sanction to some acts of parliament, 
and in time, gave them the force of common law. The clergy of the estab- 
lished church had great authority in the colony. They were the teachers 
and the expounders of the law — for as there were no lawyers in the colony, 
the clergy were the only persons who had a knowledge of the law. But 
they followed the laws of Moses more than the common law of England. 
Hence, even to this day, the judges of Massachusetts have interwoven the 
law of the Bible with the common law of England. — Moore's Life of Gov- 
ernor Winslow, 118. The clergy of the established church had great 
influence. The first settlers were well educated, but their children, who 
had to work like all those who are raised in a new country, — they were not 
learned. The clergy were supported by private donations, until 1677, when 
a law was passed compelling the people to support public worship. A law 
was passed compelling by taxation, without any respect to any particular 
religion, " the support of the regular congregational ministry," in 1677. — 
Moore's Lives of Govs. Ply. and Mass., 210. "In 1672, a law was passed 
establishing the first public school in Plymouth colony." — Ibid. p. 209. In 
1677, a law was passed, " requiring each town and village, in the colony, to 
erect, finish, and keep in repair a house for public worship." This was a 
heavy blow upon the other denominations. The power of the congrega- 
tional ministry was great. They monopolized the learning of the colony. 
They held public offices and engaged in business. The Quakers grumbled 
and were persecuted. 

Massachusetts Colony. 

A colony of Puritans settled at Salem in 1626, where "they resolved to 
remain as the Sentinels of Puritanism in the Bay of Massachusetts." The 
settlement of Massachusetts was, at first, a corporation under a royal patent. 
In 1634, the first assembly of representatives of deputies from "the towns 
met as a legislature. This was the second house of representatives in the 
New England colonies. — Moore's Life of Gov. Dudley, 285. This legislature 
was known as the General Court. In 1636, Connecticut was settled by a 
colony from Massachusetts. A settlement was made in Hartford, in 1637. 
In Jan. 14, 1639, the people of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield met at 
Hartford, and adopted a constitution for the colony, which was the basis 
of government for one hundred and fifty years. — Moore's Life of Gov. 
Haynes, 307. This constitution provided that all civil officers be voted for 
by ballot, by the whole body of freemen. That two sessions of the general 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 15 

court or legislature should be holden annually. This was the first formal con- 
stitutional convention in New England. October 7th, 1691, a charter was 
granted to Massachusetts by William III, which included Plymouth. This 
union gave great offence to the people of Plymouth. They complained of Mas- 
sachusetts, thus : "All the frame of heaven moves on one axis, and the whole 
of New England's interest seems designed to be loaden on one bottom, and 
her particular motions to be concentric to the Massachusetts tropic. " ' ' Fe v 
wise men rejoice at their chains." — Moore's Governors of Plymouth and 
Mass., 224. Massachusetts held a monopoly of the offices, and very few of 
the old residents of Plymouth, called the old colony, got office in the prov- 
ince of Massachusetts. The Puritans of Massachusetts repudiated the 
authority of the Church of England. They held that the authority of ordi- 
nation should not exist in the clergy — that the clergy should be elected. 
The Governors of Plymouth and Massachusetts, as Justices of the Peace, 
solemnized marriages. Ministers of the Gospel were not allowed to solemnize 
marriage until 1692, as they did not want to "bring in the English custom 
of ministers performing the solemnity of marriage." Governor Winslow was 
man-ied in Holland by a Dutch magistrate, and Governor Eichard Belling- 
ham, in the right of a magistrate, married himself. — Moore's Life Gov. Bel- 
lingham, 339. It is strange that the Puritans, who fled from English persecu- 
tion, should themselves turn persecutors. The Puritans would not suffer the 
idea of toleration — they banished the Quakers as guilty of divers horrid 
errors. In 1658, a law was passed that "no Quaker, Ranter or any such 
corrupt person, " should be permitted to be a freeman. All who opposed 
the Puritans were disabled from holding any office. A vagrant law was 
passed against Quaker preachers. 

The commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, in 1658, is- 
sued a recommendation to the several colonies to put the Quakers to death 
"unless they publicly renounced their accursed errors." In 1637, Massa- 
chusetts banished Mrs. Anne Hutchison. In 1644, Massachusetts banished 
Quakers and made it penal to possess a Quaker book, or to entertain or 
conceal a Quaker ; if banished Quakers returned they were to have their 
ears cut off; a female concealing or entertaining a Quaker was whipped. 
If the Quaker came back a second time bis tongue was bored with a red- 
hot iron.— Moore's Governors of Massachusetts, 256. Quakers and members 
of the Church of England made violent complaints to the government of 
England against the intolerance of New England. Books and speeches 
were published in London by both parties. The struggle was kept up 
by the Puritans. Laws were passed against heresy, in 1646. It was 
ordered that the Quakers be whipped through the town, tied to a cart, 
and banished to the nearest town ; if they should return, to be branded 
on the shoulder. Quakers were executed in 1659. So intolerant were 
the Puritans, that Governor Thomas Prence requested the Governor of 
Rhode Island to expel the Quakers from that colony. The Governor of 
Rhode Island answered: "As concerning these Quakers, who are now 
among us, we have no law among us whereby to punish any one for 
declaring by words, etc., their minds and understanding concerning things 
and the ways of God, as to salvation and eternal condition. And we more- 
over find, that in those places where these people in this colony are most 
of all suffered to declare themselves freely, and are only opposed by argu- 
ments in discourse, there they least of all desire to come." This answer 
offended the Puritans, and Rhode Island was excluded from the league 
of 1643. 

Rhode Island. 

Roger Williams, a minister of Salem, Massachusetts, and 18 others entered 



16 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

into a contract and founded a civil government. They were banished from 
Massachusetts for religious belief. They established the government of the 
majority. They held the following principles : ' ' We whose names are un- 
der written, do hereby solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, incorporate our- 
selves into a body politic, and as He shall help, will submit our persons, 
lives, and estates, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord 
of lords, and to all those perfect and absolute laws of his, given in his 
Holy Word of truth, to be judged and guided thereby." The Puritans im- 
agined that they were the chosen children of God, and, like the Israelites 
of old, claimed the divine right to govern, and to banish all from the 
colony who differed with them in religion or politics. Governor Winthrop 
said, " It is yourselves who have called us to this office, and being called by 
you we have an authority from God." They claimed to be brought to the 
country from England, as the Israelites were brought from Egypt to the 
Holy Land. All who were not of the Puritan church had no toleration in 
the colony. *' Let men of God in courts and churches watch o'er such as do a 
toleration hatch." All who did not belong to the established church of 
the colony of Massachusetts were excluded from office — and were not allowed 
to vote. Persons of the Church of England petitioned for liberty of 
conscience, or if that could not be granted, for freedom from taxes and 
military services. The Puritans held the argument that all men had liberty 
to do right, but no liberty to do wrong. "The established clergy had 
supreme control over the colony of Massachusetts and would not tolerate 
opposition." — Moore's Govs. Mass., 258. At the restoration of Charles II, in 

1660, the complaints of the anti-Puritans were heard by the king, and in 

1661, he issued his mandamus — "To our trusty and well-beloved John En- 
decott. Esquire, and to all and every other governor or governors of our 
plantations of New England, and of all the other colonies thereto belonging, 
that now are or hereafter shall be, and to all and every the ministers and 
officers of our plantations and colonies whatsoever within the continent of 
New England," which writ forbade further persecution of the Quakers. 
We may here remark that the Puritans derived their persecuting spirit from 
England. 

In 1643, the colonies united against the Indians. One of the greatest 
delusions of the age, and one which the Puritans inherited from their 
Anglo-Saxon ancestors, was that of witchcraft. It was one of the sad 
delusions of ignorance and intolerance. The Puritans in the fulness of 
their zeal hanged witches for the good of their souls, the glory of God and 
the glory of the colony. In 1656, a sister of Governor Bellingham was 
executed in Massachusetts on a charge of witchcraft. — Moore's Govs. Mass., 
344. Vide Cudmore's Irish Republic, p. 304. As early as 1634, the 
government of England wished to establish a general government for all 
the colonies of New England. Sir Ferdinand Gorges was selected as gover- 
nor of New England Colonies. But the difficulties of Charles I, in his war 
in Ireland, — O'Neill's rebellion 1641 — prevented this tyrannical act from 
consummation. Thus this great Irish rebellion prevented Laud from 
trampling on the chartered rights of New England. So much for Ireland's 
struggle for independence. — Moore's Life Gov. Winslow, 115-16. In 1674, 
Sir Edmond Andros was made military governor of the territories, which 
the crown had granted to the Duke of York. He received possession of 
New York from the Dutch authorities. He made himself dictator in civil, 
military and religious matters. He made an attempt to reduce Connecticut 
under his jurisdiction. Andros would not admit an assembly of the 
people of New York. The people had no share in the government until 
1683, when Governor Dongan came into power, when an assembly of the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 17 

people was chosen after a struggle of thirty years. In 1691, the supreme 
court of the colony was established. 

In 1685, James 11 came to the throne. June 3, 1686, he appointed Sir 
Edmond Andros governor of all New England, except Connecticut. In 1686, 
Andros landed in Boston and published his commission from the king. 
He was vested with absolute power. He removed from office the authorities 
who held under the old charter, and overthrew the most cherished institu- 
tions of the old settlers of New England. The last records of the charter 
government of Massachusetts ended May 12, 1686. Andros was a consummate 
tyrant. He abolished vote by ballot and suppressed the liberty of the 
press. He endeavored to blot out every trace of colonial laws, which clashed 
with the laws of England. He said that the town meetings were too 
democratic — he said that "there was no such thing as a town in the whole 
country." He annulled old titles to land, and laughed at the Indian deeds. 
He said that they were "no better than the scratch of a bear's paw." He 
laid on a poll-tax. All who did not comply with the tyrant's wishes were 
fined and imprisoned. He established the English church, Jan. 12, 1687 ; he 
dissolved the government of Rhode Island, broke the seal of the colony, and as- 
sumed its government. He made a demand on Connecticut while the assem- 
bly was in session, Oct. 1687, at Hartford, for a surrender of the charter of 
the colony. The governor placed the charter on the table, when 
suddenly the lights were extinguished, and the charter taken from the 
table and hid in the hollow of an oak tree, ever since known 
as the '''' charter oak.'''' October 31, 1687, Andros wrote in the records of 
Connecticut, '■'• Finis^''^ and assumed the government of the colony. In 1688, 
New York and New Jersey were added to his jurisdiction. When the 
news reached the colonies that James was driven from the throne of Eng- 
land, the people of Boston made a prisoner of Andros and established the 
general court, and recalled Bradstreet as governor. The authorities in Eng- 
land passed over this revolution in silence as they had themselves set the 
example. King William took from the colonies the right of electing their 
own governors. England claimed the "unqualified right of binding the 
colonies in all cases whatever, and specifically of the right of taxing them 
without their consent. The attempt of the king and parliament to tax by 
the sword immediately led to the revolution." — Kent's Comm. vol. i, p. 205. 



CHAPTER III.— TOWN, SCHOOL, AND PARISH. 

The American people had a fair opportunity to establish a Democratic 
form of government on the model of the Greek Republics, where all the 
citizens voted in one body in their assemblies. The great mass of the 
inhabitants were working men, with a few exceptions. "They had neither 
lords nor common people, neither rich nor poor." — De Tocqueville, p. 14. 
In the Middle and Southern states grants were made by the crown to great 
proprietors, and in many instances the governors were appointed by the 
crown. — De Tocqueville, pp. 18 and 19. New York, under the Dutch 
government, was no better than a military post. The proprietary govern- 
ments were established in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the Carolinas, 
the Jerseys, and Georgia. The right of the soil and the establishment of 
civil government was given to favorites of the crown, who almost exercised 
royal authority. They appointed the governors and had the right to 
convene the legislature. The proprietors exercised a veto on the 



18 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

acts of the assemblies. The crown alone had a negative on the acts of the 
proprietors. — Young's American Statesman, 30. The New England 
States had charter governments, which conferred on the colonists all 
the privileges of natural-born subjects. The only limitation on the 
colonial legislature of New England was, that no law should conflict 
with those of England. — Young's American Statesman, p. 22. The proprie- 
tary governments were superseded by royal governments, with royal char- 
ters which continued until the revolution. They derived their powers from 
the king, governors held their offices at the pleasure of the king and 
acted under his instructions. The king appointed the governor and coun- 
cil, and representatives were elected by the people. The governors had a 
negative on the acts of the legislature. All acts of the legislature had to 
receive the royal authority. The judges were appointed by the crown. 
— Young's American Statesman, p. 26. I am of opinion that the town 
meetings and town laws originated in New England. The New Eng- 
land colonies claimed the right to make all laws for the 
government of the colonies. They were nearly independent nations. 
— De Tocqueville, 19. The New England town is older than 
the counties, the States, or the Federal Union. It answers the purpose of 
an English parish for supporting the poor, and in colonial times for the 
support of religion and education — for the support of ministers of the Con- 
gregational Church, established by law. For both New England and 
Virginia established church and state. The New England towns were nearly 
republics. In Connecticut, in colonial times, parents were obliged to send 
their children to the parish school or pay a fine. — De Tocqueville, 23,24. In 
the towns, the people were sovereign. They were the source of political 
power. Indeed, the first towns nearly formed independent nations. — De Toc- 
queville, 47. They gave existence to constitutional conventions. For in New 
England, the towns exercised more authority than in any other part of the 
United States. The following are the town officers of Connecticut : Select- 
men, town clerk, treasurer, registrar, constables, assessors, surveyors of 
highways, collectors of town taxes, grand jurors, tythingmen, haywards, 
gangers, packers, sealers of weights and measures, weighers, pound-keepers, 
who serve for one year. — Statutes Conn. p. 101. '"The inhabitants of the 
respective towns, in legal meeting assembled, shall have power to make 
such orders, rules and regulations for the welfare of the towns, as 
they may deem expedient, and to enforce them by suitable penalties, 
if such regulations do not concern matters of a criminal nature, are 
not repugnant to the laws of the State, and the penalties do not excede 
four dollars for any one breach." — Statutes Conn. 102. The town can 
give a bounty for killing wild cats ; may appropriate money for monu- 
ments for soldiers and seamen. The selectmen have charge of the poor ; 
may organize a night patrol; may license dealers in junk, etc.; may 
revoke licenses. The registrars give license to marry ; keep records of births, 
marriages and deaths. "Every town, at its annual meeting for the election 
of town officers, shall choose not less than two, nor more than six Grand 
Jurors, to serve for the ensuing year, who shall take the oath prescribed by 
law." — Statutes Conn. 112. "The civil authority and selectmen of the 
several towns shall constitute a board of health in their respective towns. 
The town is a quasi corporation, capable of suing and being sued. Such 
are the powers of a town that it has control of the internal police of the 
State ; the board of health, in any town, may pass quarantine laws and 
regulations. The justices of the peace are empowered to summon an 
inquest, etc. The town has control of the schools." — Statutes Conn. 124. 
The town officers of Massachusetts, (Statutes, 1836) are: town clerk, asses- 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 19 

sors overseers of poor, town treasurer, school committee, surveyors of high- 
ways, constables, collectors of taxes, tythingmen, field drivers, fence 
viewers, surveyors of lumber, measurers of wood and sealers of leather. 
Each town has the charge of the poor and may erect a workhouse. Every 
person of the age of eighteen years is liable to keep watch and ward, ministers 
of the Gospel, justices, selectmen and sheriffs exempted. We have said that 
in colonial times the parish had to support the ministers of the Congregational 
Church, but now, it is otherwise. But the Statutes provide " that every 
parish or religious society heretofore established is declared to be a body 
corporate, with all the powers given to a corporation." — Laws of Mass. 1836. 
The town chooses a board of health and may establish quarantine laws. 
The town has charge of the schools ; and of building schools and hiring 
teachers. — Statutes of Mass. 1836. The inhabitants of the town may 
divide the town into school districts. The powers and duties of the select- 
men nearly similar to the town supervisors of New York, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota and other Western States. In Massachusetts the town grants 
licenses. The towns in Massachusetts have the capacity to sue and be sued. 
They are quasi corporations — they may make by-laws. The school laws of 
the several States have been changed nearly every year. In Minnesota, and 
other States, the county commissioners divide the counties into 
school districts. The school districts are quasi corporations empowered 
to sue and be sued; the school officers are a director, treasurer, 
and clerk, who are elected annually. In Minnesota, Laws 1873, school 
officers are elected for three years. They have general charge of the 
schools and school houses in the district — may hire teachers. The quali- 
fied voters of the district when assembled at a legal school meeting, 
have power to vote a tax on the taxable property of the dis- 
trict for the support of the public school," &c. In some States the 
school trustees of each district examine teachers ; in others, there is a town 
superintendent of schools in each town to examine teachers ; and still in 
others, the county commissioners of each county appoint a school examiner 
for each commissioner district ; and still in others the county commission- 
ers appoint a school superintendent of public schools for each county, 
whose duty it is to examine teachers and visit and examine schools. — Statutes 
Minn. pp. 299-300-1-2-3-4, Ed. 1866. Actions for and against school 
districts shall be brought in the name of the school district. — Statutes Minn. 
1866, p. 300, sec. 9, and p. 299, sec. 1. Vacancies to be filled by the re- 
maining board of trustees when a vacancy occurs. So, when one of the 
trustees resigns, he must tender his resignation to the other two. — Statutes 
Minn. 1866, p. 301, sec. 15. So the resignations of school and town officers 
depend on the laws of the several States, as well as upon general principles of 
law. In Vermont the town officers are, clerk, selectmen, town treasurer, over- 
seer of the poor, constables, assessors, auditors, fence viewers, Grand 
Jurors, sealers of weights and measures, inspectors of leather, pound- 
keepers, surveyors of highways, an agent to prosecute and defend suits in 
which the town is interested. — Statutes of Vermont, 1793. The duties of 
selectmen nearly similar to those of the supervisors of New York, Wis- 
consin, Minnesota, and other Western States. In New York, Wiscon- 
sin Minnesota (other States), the towns are quasi corporations, and may 
''^ me and le sued." May make by-laws. Supervisors are elected annually, as 
well as clerks, treasurers, assessors, justices of the peace ; and constables are 
elected for two years, overseers of highways, pound-masters, etc. The towns 
are empowered to raise money for town purposes and to defend suits against 
their respective towns. In some States the supervisors are fence viewers ; 
and with the justices of the peace constitute the board of health. In some 



20 CrVTL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

States, suits for and against towns are conducted by the supervisors; but the 
suit must be in the name of the town. — Statutes Minn. 1866, p. 146, sec. 61. 
Statutes Minn. p. 149. sec. 85, 1866. The papers in a suit must be served on 
the chairman or in his absence on the town clerk. — Statutes Minn. 1866, 
p. 149, sec. 87. Each town may pass by-laws. In some States, the supervisors 
in the several towns have care and superintendence of the roads and 
bridges in the towns; and may lay out and repair the roads in their respec- 
tive towns. — Statutes Minn. 1866, p. 190, sec. 1. Overseers of highways must 
resign to the supervisors. — Statutes Minn. 1866, p. 191, sec. 4, 5. The justices 
of the peace of each town, and the supervisors, or a majority of them, fill 
vacancies in the town ofiices. All town officers must tender their resigna- 
tion to this board. — Statutes Minn. 1866, p. 144, sec. 45,46. The powers and 
duties of the towns and school districts are limited by the statutes, beyond 
which they can exercise no corporate powers. — Statutes Minn. 1866, p. 140, 
sec. 9. Wisconsin Rep. vol. 26. See opinion Supreme Court U. S. 21 Howard, 
506. Yet, no other officer has control over town officers while acting with- 
in the sphere of their respective duties. They may be compelled to perform 
the duties of their respective offices by mandamus. In some instances, they 
are liable to pay a fine according to the provisions of the statutes. They 
are all liable to be indicted for corruption in office, etc. For further on this 
subject, see the constitutions and statutes of the several States. The courts can 
reach individual officers both town, school, county, state and federal, for 
no person in the United States is above the law. The courts by judicial sen- 
tence enforce the laws, town, county, state and federal. — De Tocqueville, 
p. 57. Opinions of the attorneys general of the United States, vol. 1, p. 5. 

County Government. 

It has been said that there is no body in New England representing the 
county as a body politic. — De Tocqueville, p. 51. This was so in the time 
that De Tocqueville wrote. For then county officers were appointed. — De 
Tocqueville, p. 48. In Massachusetts, Act of November, 2, 1791, the expenses 
of the county were voted by the legislature. Until quite recently there was 
no body in New England representing the county, either directly or indi- 
rectly. By the constitution of Vermont, (Constitution, 1793,) "assistant 
judges of the county court shall be elected by the freemen of their respec- 
tive counties ;" sheriflFs, high bailiffs, and state attorneys shall be elected by 
the freemen of their respective counties. According to the statutes of Ver- 
mont (1793,) the county court, which is similar to circuit courts in other 
states, have jurisdiction in cases of highways on appeals from the select- 
nien ; the county court have the appointment of county clerks, county treas- 
urers, and inspectors of turnpike roads. "The county court in each 
county shall, by their clerk or an auditor, examine, audit and adjust all ac- 
counts against each county, and draw orders on the county treasurer for 
the same." Certain county officers are appointed by the legislature. 
— See statutes of Vermont, 1793. The county treasurer has charge of 
the county buildings. In Massachusetts, under recent laws, ' ' each 
county shall be a body corporate for the following purpose, to wit: 
To sue and be sued; to purchase and hold, for the public use of the 
county lands lying within its own limits and any personal estate, to make 
all necessary contracts and to do all other necessary acts in relation to the 
property and concerns of the county." — Mass. Statute, 1836. In 1838, a 
law was passed in Massachusetts for the election of county commissioners. — 
Statutes Mass. 1836, p. 161. Their duties areas follows: to erect county 
buildings; to have charge of the highways; to grant licenses: lay estimate 
of expenses before the county court, of the sums necessary for county 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 21 

charges ; to examine, allow and settle all the accounts of receipts and expen- 
ditures of the money of the county, apportion county taxes according to 
the last State valuation. According to the laws of Connecticut, (Laws 
18G6), it may be well said that there is no body representing the county. 
With a few exceptions, county officers are the mere agents of the legislature. 
In Connecticut the general assembly appoints three county commissioners, 
for a term of three years, who shall '•'take care of all the real estate, real 
and personal property belonging to the county," f "may sell and purchase 
real estate in behalf of the county," t "all conveyances of real estate in the 
name of the county treasurer. The county commission shall appoint the 
county treasurer and county surveyors for their respective counties." — Con- 
necticut Statutes, 228, 1866. Powers of the county commission limited, as 
they represent the legislature more than the county. When a tax is necessary 
for county purposes, the county commissioners call together the representa- 
tives, for the time being, of the county of course, chosen to the general as- 
sembly. Said meeting shall impose a tax upon the towns in each county, to 
be collected the same as to wn taxes and paid to the county treasurer. Suits for or 
against the county are in the name of the county treasurer. — Ibid. 98, By amend- 
ments 1838, sheriffs are elected by the people. By the laws of 1850, judges 
of probate and justices of the peace are elected by the people. New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio and the Western States have a better system of county 
government, than New England. The several states have changed their 
system of county government from time to time. In some States, the chairman 
of the town supervisors for each town represents the county, as the board 
of county supervisors ; in other States, each county is divided into commis- 
sioner districts, and each district elects one county commissioner to repre- 
sent the county. The powers and duties of county supervisors and county 
commissioners are defined and limited by the laws of the several States. 
County officers are the creatures of the statutes. — 26, Wisconsin, Rep. 
State V. Douglas, p. 428. — Cro well v. Lambert 9, Minn. Rep. p. 283, 
Sanborne v. Commissioners of Rice Co., 9 Minn. Rep. 273; 4 Wis. Rep. 
167. In New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota and several of the Western 
states, county officers are elected by the people. In Minnesota 
and other western states, the county board represents the county. 
It has power to erect county buildings, to lay out county roads, alter and 
lay out county roads, to hear appeals from town supervisors on roads ; to 
equalize the taxes of the county; to audit and allow county charges ; to 
select grand and petit jurors ; to have care of the county property ; to ex- 
amine the accounts and vouchers of the auditor and. treasurer and the funds 
in the county treasury. The county commissioners "shall have and use the 
auditor's seal; and papers signed by the chairman and attested by the audi- 
tor, with the auditor's seal affixed, shall be evidence of such proceedings 
in any of the courts of this State." — Minn. Statutes, 1866, p. 117, sec. 96. 
97. The county auditor, judge of probate and register of deeds in each 
county, fill by appointment vacancies in the board of county commissioners. 
— Statutes of Minn. 1866, p. 116, sec. 95. County commissioners shall 
tender their resignation to the register of deeds, auditor and judge of pro- 
bate. The county commissioners fill vacancies in the office of register of 
deeds. Auditor, Treasurer, Sheriff, County Attorney, County Surveyor. 
Said officers resign to the county commissioners ; vacancies in the offices of 
the court commission and clerk of the court are filled by the judge of the 
district court. Clerks of the district court and court commissioners should 
tender their resignation to the judge of the district court. Vacancy in 
the office of the judge of probate is filled by the governor. The judge of 
probate should resign totheGovernor.— See Constitution of Minn. art. 5, sec. 4. 



23 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Statutes of Minn. 1866, on resignations, etc. p. 137, sec. 1. Opinions of the 
Attorneys General of the United States, vol. 1, page 157, and constitution of 
Minnesota, section 10, art. 6, and 9 Minn. Rep. 283. The Governor may re- 
move from oflSce for malfeasance or nonfeasance of official duty, the clerk 
of the district court, judge of probate, court commissioner, sheriff, 
coroner, register of deeds, county attorney, county commissioner, 
any collector or receiver of public moneys appointed by the legislature, 
only the Governor. — Minn. Statutes, 1866, pp. 137-8. The laws of the 
several states in respect to county officers are not the same in all the states 
— and as there are 38 states and 38 independent legi3iatures, the powers and 
duties of county officers and the nature of county governments must, in 
the nature of things, fluctuate with the wants and wishes of the people — 
the source of all political power, town, county, state and federal. We have 
given the general principles which govern the town, parish, school and 
county organizations, in the United States. Said organizations have capacity 
to sue and be sued. — The State of Minnesota has a legal capacity to sue. — 
State V. Grant, 10 Minn. 39. The official acts of the town, school and county 
officers may be investigated by the Grand Jury of the proper county under 
the instructions of the presiding judge ; for the judicial power of the nation 
extends to every person and everything in its territory, excepting only such 
foreigners as enjoy the right of extra territoriality, and who, consequently, 
are not looked upon as temporary subjects of the State. — Opinions of the 
Attorneys General United States, vol. 1, p. 5. 



CHAPTER IV.— STATE GOVERNMENT. 

We have said that the town is the parent of the State. We may further 
say that the thirteen colonies had different forms of government, which can 
be seen from the constitutions and charters of the colonies at the time when 
they adopted the articles of confederation in 1777. On the 4th of July, 
1776, the thirteen colonies of North America became independent and sove- 
reign nations or powers, and their legislatures could pass such laws and 
make such regulations as the welfare of the people demanded, limited by 
their state constitutions and charters. July 1776, the New England States 
and the State of New York had no constitutions — nothing more than charters 
from the crown. The thirteen States adopted their first constitutions, as 
follows: New Hampshire, 1784; Massachusetts, 1780; Rhode Island, 1842; 
Connecticut, 1818; New York, 1777; New Jersey, 1776; Pennsylvania, 
1776; Delaware, 1776; Maryland, (the first form of government was partly 
by the proprietors and partly by the people) the first popular constitution 
was adopted in 1776; Virginia, in 1776; North Carolina, 1776; South Caro- 
lina, 1776; Georgia, 1777; Rhode Island and Connecticut acted under their 
colonial charters after the adoption of the constitution of the United States. 
The States were not subject to any higher political power, each state being 
sovereign. — 1 Kent Comm. vol. 1, p. 208; Vattel's Laws of Nations, book 1, 
chapter 3, pp. 8, 9, 10, 11. Book 1, chap. 1, pp. 2-3, chap. 4, pp. 12 and 
13. 4 Ohio Rep. pp. 294-308. From the above, it will appear that the 
thirteen colonies or states, though their forms of government differed in 
some respects, were democratic, for they claimed that the people were the 
source of all political power. The principle that all political power is 
inherent in the people was adopted by the several state constitutions. We 
have said that the forms of government were different in the several colonies 



CONSTITUTIONAL niSTORY OP UNITED STATES. 23 

at the adoption of the Declaration of Independence ; the same can be said of 
the present state governments. The present state governments are more 
liberal than they were before the adoption of the constitution of the United 
States. For before the adoption of the constitution of the United States, 
all of the States, except Pennsylvania, required a property qualification for 
the executive office, as well as for members of both houses of the legis- 
lature. Under the colonial governments of New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, 
and Pennsylvania, the governor was elected by the state legislature. 
Tlie judiciary of the several States were appointed either by the legislature, 
the governor and council, or by the governor by and with the consent of 
the senate and in some States by the governor and assembly and in Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, and Georgia by the legislature on joint ballot. 
Some of the old States still clung to the old system of appointing the 
judiciary, but New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and most of the Western 
States elect their judges. We have in another place said that New England 
had established church and state and that religion was supported by the 
taxes of the people, and that in some States education was compulsory. — 
De Tocqueville, p. 23. In 1693, the Episcopal religion was established 
by law in the province of New York. — Constitutions of the States, 
p. 142. Virginia established the Church of England, and the parsons 
collected tithes, the same in South Carolina. — Constitutions of 
States, 266. Naturalization laws were passed by the several states 
before the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. In Penn- 
sylvania, the act of the British Parliament passed in the 13th year of 
the reign of George II, Chapter VII, furnished the rule for the natural- 
ization of "all persons being Protestants, etc., who resided for the 
space of seven years or more within the province by taking the abjuration 
oath shall be deemed, adjudged, and taken to be the king's natural-born 
subjects of this province, to all intents." (See Dallas, ed. Penn. Laws, 
vol. 1. This law excluded the Catholics from the privileges of naturalized 
citizens or subjects. In New York it was provided that naturalized citizens 
should take the following oath, to wit: " To abjure and renounce all allegi- 
ance and subjugation to all and every foreign king, prince, potentate, and 
state in all matters, ecclesiastical as well as civil." This, says Chancellor 
Kent, in his Commentaries, vol. 2, p. 73, was intended to exclude Roman 
Catholics from the benefits of naturalization, who acknowledged the spirit- 
ual supremacy of the pope. — Kent's Com. vol. 2, p. 73. The State of 
Maryland passed the following act on the subject of naturalization, in 
July, 1779. "Be it enacted by the general assembly of Maryland, that 
every jperson who shall hereafter come into this State from any nation, king- 
dom, or state, and shall repeat and subscribe a declaration of his belief in 
the Christian religion, and take, repeat, and subscribe the following 
oath, to wit: 'I do swear that I will hereafter become a subject of the State 
of Maryland, and will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to said State, and 
that I do not hold myself bound to yield allegiance or obedience to any 
king or prince or any state or government, ' shall thereafter be adjudged, 
deemed, and taken to be a natural-Zww. subject of this state." By act 
of the assembly of Georgia, Feb. 7, 1785, an alien "who hath resided at 
least twelve months in the same, and after the expiration thereof, doth 
obtain from the Grand Jury of the county where he resided, a certificate, 
purporting that he hath demeaned himself as an honest man, and a friend 
of the government of the State," may become a citizen of the State by 
taking the oath of allegiance provided that no such person Talien-born, ) 
thus made a citizen, shall be. a member of the general assembly, or of the 
executive council, or shall hold any office of trust or profit, or vote for 



24 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

members of the general assembly, for the term of seven years, and until the 
legislature shall, by special act for that purpose, enable such person so to do. 
And provided also, that all such aliens, or persons aforesaid, shall be sub- 
ject and liable to pay such alien duties as have been heretofore, or may 
hereafter be imposed by the legislature. — See Watkin's Digest Laws of 
Georgia, pp. 312-3. It was provided in North Carolina "that every foreigner 
who comes to settle in this State, having first taken an oath of allegiance 
to the same, may purchase, or, by other just means, acquire, hold, and 
transfer land, or other real estate ; and after one year's residence, shall be 
deemed a free citizen."' In Massachusetts, an act was passed, in 1777, 
that persons born abroad and coming into the State after 1776, and before 
1783, and remaining there voluntarily, were deemed citizens of the 
state. — 2 Pick. Rep. 394. The supreme court of Connecticut adopted 
the same rule without the aid of the legislature. It was held, that a 
British soldier, who came over with the British army in 1775 and deserted, 
and came and settled in Connecticut, in 1778, and remained there after- 
wards, became a citizen of the United States.— 5, Day's Rep. p. 169. Held 
by the Attorney General of the United States, Wm. Wirt, in 1821, that 
all free white persons born and residing in the United States are citizens of 
the United States. — Opinions of the Attorneys General of the United States 
vol. 1, pp. 382, 383, 384.-2 Kent's Comm. p. 1. We insert a few extracts 
from the decisions of the courts of Massachusetts on the subject. "An 
alien is one born without the allegiance of the commonwealth. — Anslie v. 
Martin. 9 Mass. R. p. 459. " A person, born within the territory, of which 
the commonwealth of Massachusetts is now sovereign, although he were 
born before the Declaration of Independence, cannot be considered an alien 
unless he have been expatriated by virtue of some statute judgment at law; 
for by his birth he owes allegiance to the commonwealth, as the successor 
of the former sovereign, who had abdicated his throne." — Martin v. Woods, 
9 Mass. Rep. 377. "A native of Massachusetts, leaving his county after the 
commencement of hostilities with Great Britain in 1775, and voluntarily 
remaining with the British until after the close of the war, thereby became 
an alien." — Palmer v. Downer, 2 Mass. Rep. 179. A person leaving this 
country after the commencement of the revolutionary war and going to the 
British territories, and residing therein for several years, and afterwards 
returning to the United States, before the treaty of peace, without having been 
legally disfranchised by judgment of court, retains his right as a citizen of 
the United States." Kilhara v. Ward & al. II. Mass. R. 236. Gardner v. 
Ward & al. II. Mass. R. 244. " The act of April 30, 1779, for confiscat- 
ing the estates of absentees, does not take away the rights of citizenship 
from a person, who has not been prosecuted and convicted under it." — lUd. 
" A person, who resides under the allegiance and protection of a hostile 
state, for commercial purposes, is to be considered, to all civil purposes, as 
much an alien enemy, as if he were born there." — Hutchinson v. Brock, 9 
Mass. R. 119. "Where a person, who was born in the colony of Connecti- 
cut, before the commencement of the revolutionary war, removed to the 
British dominions, where he remained until after the treaty of peace, he was 
considered an alien." — Thelnh. Manchester?). Inh. Boston. 16 Mass. 230. "The 
statutes of the United States — 7 Congr. 1 sess. c. 23, sec. 4. provides that the 
children of all such persons, as now are, or have been citizens of the United 
States, shall be citizens, whether born within the United States or not." 
This provision does not extend to children born of parents, who had quit this 
country before the Declaration of Independence ; as the term, citizens of the 
United States, must be understood to intend those who were citizens of a state, 
as much, after the Union had commenced, and the several states had assumed 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 25 

theirsovereignties." — Inh. Manchester v. Inh. Boston, 16 Mass. R. 230. "An 
alien can purchase real estate, and can hold against all, except the common- 
wealth, and can be divested only by office found, and until office found, can 
convey," — Sheaffe v. O'Neil, 1 Mass. R. 256. Storer v. Boston, 8 Mass. R. 
431. Fox V. Southack & al. 12 Mass. R. 143. "An alien, other than 
a British subject, is not capable of holding and conveying lands. — Com- 
monwealth V. Sheaffe, 6 Mass. R. 441. Opinion of the Justices of the Supreme 
Judicial District, 7 Mass. 523. "But by the ninth article of the treaty of 
1794, which seems to be a stipulation, which cannot be dissolved by any 
subsequent event, British subjects, who then held lands within the United 
States, might continue to hold them, according to the nature and tenure of 
their estates and titles therein ; and might grant, sell or devise the same to 
whom they would, in like manner as if they were natives." — Ainslie v. Mar- 
tin, 9 Mass. 454, Fox v. Southack & al. 12 Mass. 143. "An alien is liable 
to taxation ; but, by the payment of taxes, he acquires no political right 
whatever." — Opinion of the Justices of the Sup. Jud. Court, 7 Mass. R. 523. 
"Thus, if a person, born an alien, be naturalized, he will be placed upon 
the same ground, as if bom a citizen." — Ibid. "So, if a person, born with- 
in the allegiance of the King of England, and without the allegiance of 
the Commonwealth, were an inhabitant of the Commonwealth, at the 
ratification of the treaty of peace between Great Britain, in 1783, he 
will be entitled to the privileges of citizenship." — Ibid. "So, if a person 
be a citizen of some other of the United States, he will be entitled, by the 
Federal constitution, to the privileges of citizens within the state." — Ibid. 
"Natural born citizens may inherit and make their titles by descent, from 
any of their alien ancestors, lineal or collateral." — Palmer v. Downer, 2 
Mass. 179. "If an alien be found within this state, he will be liable to be 
sued in the courts of the state, upon his personal contracts, wherever they 
may have been made." — Barrett?). Benjamin, 15 Mass. Rep. 354. "The 
citizens of any of the United States have the same rights and privileges in the 
courts of this state, which belong to its own citizens. — Ibid. We here 
give extracts from the rulings of the supreme court of the United States as to 
who are and who are not aliens. — ' ' One born in England before the year 1775, 
and who always resided there, and never was in the United States, is an 
alien, and could not, in 1795, take lands in Maryland by descent from a 
citizen of the United States." — Dawson's Lessee v. Godfrey, 4 Cranch, 321. 
7 Wheaton, 535. Fairfax's Devisee v. Hunter's Lessee, 7 Cranch, 603. "The 
allegiance which was formerly due from the people of this country to the 
sovereign of Great Britain, was transferred by the American revolution to 
the government of their own country. On the 4th of October, 1776, the 
state of New Jersey being an organized and independent government, had 
a right to compel the inhabitants of the state to become citizens thereof; 
and the legislature asserted this right by an act passed on the 4th of June, 
1777. A person, therefore, born in New Jersey before the year 1775, and 
residing there until the year 1777, and then joining the British army, and 
ever afterwards claiming to be a British subject, may take lands by descent 
in New Jersey State, that having a right to his allegiance, and the power to 
compel his services as a citizen." — Mcllvaine?). Coxe's Lessee, 4 Cranch, 209. 
"The treaty of peace of 1783, between the United States and Great Britain 
did not so operate upon the condition of a person in the above predicament 
as to make him become an alien to the State of New Jersey, in consequence 
of his election then made to become a subject of the king, and his subse- 
quent conduct confirming the election ; the laws of the state which had 
made him a citizen being still in full force, and not repealed, or in any 
manner afi'ected by the treaty." — 3id. "The concessions in the treaty of 



26 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

peace of 1783, on the part of his Britannic Majesty, amounted to a formal re- 
nunciation of all claim to the allegiance of the citizens of the United States ; 
but the question, who were at that period citizens, was necessarily left to de- 
pend upon the laws^of the respective states, who, in their sovereign capacities, 
had acted authoritatively upon the subject. It left all such persons in the 
situation it found them, neither making those citizens who had by the laws 
of any state been declared aliens, nor releasing from their allegiance any 
who had become and were claimed as citizens." — lUd. Persons who, 
having been born in this country, left it before the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and never returned, are aliens, and incapable of taking land by 
descent. — Inglis v. the Trustees of Sailors' Snug Harbor, 3 Peters 99. ' ' The 
English and American courts have, however, established different rules as 
to the time at which American antenati ceased to be British subjects. The 
American rule is to take the date of the Declaration of Independence ; the 
English rule is to take the date of the treaty of peace, prima facie^ and 
as a general rule, the character in which American ante nati will be con- 
sidered by our courts, must depend upon the situation of the party, and 
the election made by him, at the date of the Declaration of Independence. 
But this general rule must be controlled by special circumstances attending 
particular cases. To say that the election must always have been made 
before, or immediately at the Declaration of Independence, would render 
the right nugatory." — Ibid. "A person born in the city of New York 
before the 4th of July, 1776, and remaining there an infant under the custody 
of his father, during the period of its occupation by the British troops, and 
who, after the treaty of peace, was carried by his father, an American loy- 
alist, to England, and never returned to the United States, must be consid- 
ered as an alien, and incapable of inheriting land in the State of New York." 
— Inglis v. The Trustees of Sailors' Snug Harbor, 3 Peters 99. " If such per- 
son had been born after the 4th of July, 1776, and before the 15th of September, 
when the British troops took possession of the city and adjacent places, his 
infancy would have incapacitated him from making any election for himself, 
and his election and character would follow that of his father, subject to 
the right of disaffirmance in a reasonable time after the termination of his 
minority. " — lUd. " A. S. was born in South Carolina before the Declaration 
of Independence: her father at the time, and remaining until his death, in 
1783, a citizen of that state, she married J. S.,an officer of the British army 
at that time in possession of Charleston. Upon the evacuation of this city 
in ,1782, she went with her husband to England, and there remained until 
her death in 1806. Her age and death of her father did not appear. Held, 
that she was capable of taking land by descent from her father in 1782, the 
time of his death. If she was under age, she might be deemed under the 
circumstances of the case, to hold the citizenship of her father; for children 
born in a country, and continuing while under age in the family of the 
father partake of his national character. If she was of age, then her birth 
and residence might be deemed to constitute her by election a citizen of 
South Carolina. The possession of Charleston by the British was not of a 
character to change the allegiance of its inhabitants ; nor could the marri- 
age of A. S. with an alien produce that effect ; marriage changes the civil 
rights, but does not effect the political character of a fem.e." — Shanks 
et als. -y. Dupont et als. 3 Peters 242. " The removal of A. S. to England 
with her husband, after the death of her father, operated as a virtual dis- 
solution of her allegiance to South Carolina, and fixed her future allegiance 
to the British Crown by the treaty of peace of 1783. Being a British sub- 
ject, at the time of the peace of 1783 — at least, within the view of the 
British Government — she was embraced by the provisions of that treaty, 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOKY OP UNITED STATES. 27 

protecting British subjects holding lands in America from the disability of 
alienage in respect to descents and sales. " — 3 Peters 342. " It is common learn- 
ing that an alien has no inheritable blood, and can neither take land himself 
by descent, nor transmit it by descent to others." — Lessee of Levy et als. v. 
McCartee, 6 Peters 102. — "At common law an alien cannot acquire by pur- 
chase and convey to a vendee a good title to real estate." — Purczell v. Smith 
21 Iowa R. 540. The following rule of law has been held by the courts of 
New York: ^^ An alien widow J/" a natural-born citizen cannot te endowed by 
reason of her alienism." — Mick v. Mick, 10 Wend R. 379. " Naturalization 
merely removes the disability of the alien to hold lands, leaving a right in 
the government to enter if he die without heirs, or leaving alien heirs only." 
— Sultiff?). Forgey, 1. Cowen 89. "A subject of Great Britain, who emigrated 
to this country after the Declaration of Independence, is an alien."— Jack- 
son, ex dem. Folliard, v. Wright, 4 Johnson's Rep. 75. "Naturalization 
has a relation back and confirms the title of the purchaser of land during 
alienage." — Jackson, ex dem. Calverhouse, v. Beach, I. Johnson's Ch. Rep. 
399. " A resident alien is entitled to the benefit of the insolvent laws of 
the commonwealth." — Judd v. Lawrence, 1. Cush. 531. The courts of 
Massachusetts and the supreme court of the United States have held that no 
" person in any way can discharge himself from his allegiance to his native 
country, unless the protection, which is due to him from the laws, be unjustly 
denied him." That "the allegiance, which a person owes to the sovereign or 
government of the country of his birth, cannot be discharged by naturaliza- 
tion in a foreign country ; but his duties, arising from his allegiance to his 
native country, remain unchanged and unimpaired by such naturaliza- 
tion." — Ainslie v. Martin, 9 Mass. R. 454. "The sovereign cannot refuse 
his protection to any subject, nor discharge him from his allegiance 
against his consent; but he will remain a subject, unless disfranchised 
as a punishment for crime." — Ibid. Held by the supreme court of 
the United States that the State of New Jersey before the adoption 
of the constitution of the United States, had a right to compel the 
services of a person born in that state ; that such person could not re- 
nounce his allegiance to the said State of New Jersey. — Mcllvaine v. Cox's 
Lessee, 4 Cranch, 209. The courts of Massachusetts and the supreme 
court of the United States have held the doctrine of the courts of 
Great Britain, that a natural-born subject or citizen cannot throw off his 
allegiance without the consent of the government. The following is the 
ruling of the supreme court of the United States on the subject. ' ' Allegiance 
may be dissolved by the mutual consent of the government and its citizens 
or subjects. This doctrine was recognized in England, in the case of Doe v. 
Acklman,2 Barns, Cress. 779; Inglis v. The Trustees of Sailors' Snug Harbor, 
3 Peters 99. "The general doctrine is, that no person by any act of his 
own, without the consent of the government, can put off his allegiance, and 
become an alien." — Shanks ■y. Dupont, 3 Peters, 242; 2 Kent, 48. "The 
right of expatriation was not acknowledged at common law. British sub- 
jects, unless specially prohibited by statute, were permitted to seek their 
fortunes in any country, but always subject to their natural allegiance. 
Although it has not been regarded as a crime to swear allegiance to a for- 
eign state, yet the British government stands uncommitted as to the embar- 
rassment in which a state of war between the governments of his natural and 
of his divided allegiance might plunge an individual." — 3 Peters, 242. — 
"There is no natural and inalienable right of expatriation."— /Jit?. — CI. 
American Citizens Abroad — Declares the right of expatriation ; that all nat- 
uralized citizens while in foreign states shall receive from this Government 
the same protection of persons and property that is accorded to native- 



28 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

born citizens in like situations and circumstances; and that when any 
citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty 
by any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the President to 
demand of that government the reasons for such imprisonment, and 
if it appears to be wrongful and in violation of the rights of American 
citizenship, the President shall demand the release of such citizen, 
and if the release is unreasonably delayed or refused, it shall be the duty of 
the President to use such means, not amounting to acts of war, as 
he may think necessary to obtain such release. [July 27, 1868.] 
Held by the attorney general of the United States, that, "white men owing 
allegiance to the United States, cannot divest themselves of that alle- 
giance by a residence among the Choctaws, nor even by becoming, by adop- 
tion, members of the Choctaw nation." — Opinions of the Attorneys Gen. of the 
United States, vol. 2, p. 985. " By the treaty between the United States 
and Great Britain of 1794, (art. 9) it is agreed, that British subjects, who 
then held lands in the territories of the United States, and American citizens 
who then held lands in the dominion of his Majesty, should continue to 
hold them according to the nature and tenure of their respective estates and 
titles therein; and might grant, sell, or devise the same to whom they 
pleased, in like manner as if they were natives ; and that neither they nor 
their heirs or assigns should, so far as respects the said lands and the legal 
remedies incident thereto, be considered as aliens." — Jackson v. Clarke, 3 
Wheaton 1. The courts of the United States and some of the state courts 
have ruled as follows as to the common law of England. The old colony at 
Plymouth, as before mentioned, abolished the common law and statute laws 
of England, yet Massachusetts and the other New England States have re- 
tained the common law by judicial sanction. The following is the doctrine 
held by Massachusetts on the subject. "Generally, when an English statute 
has been made in amendment of the common law, it is to be considered as 
part of our common law." — Com. v. Leach, 1 Mass. 61. Com. v. Knowlton, 
2 Mass. 535. " Thus, the statute of Anne, respecting negotiable notes, has been 
adopted here as part of our common law." — Ibid. "And it is said that the 
statute of Edward III, respecting the jurisdiction and powers of justices of the 
peace, have been adopted and practised upon here and are to be considered as 
a part of our common law. — Hid. " So, it was said that the statute of 21 Jac. 1, 
sec. 13, giving double costs to an officer, who sued out of his county, for any- 
thing done by him in the execution of his office, being made in amendment 
of the common law, has been adopted here as part of our common law. — Ibid. 
The following is the ruling of the supreme court of the United States on 
the subject: "The common law of England is not to be taken in all 
respects to be that of America. Our ancestors brought with them its 
general principles, and claimed it as their birthright; but they brought 
with them and adopted only that portion which was applicable to their 
situation." — Van Ness v. Pacard, 2 Peters 137, & Peters Rep. 591. The 
Town of Pawlett v. Clarke, 9 Cranch 292. "The statutes passed in Eng- 
land before the emigration of our ancestors, which were in amendment of 
the law, and applicable to our situation, constitute a part of our common 
law." — Pattersons. Winn. 5 Peters. "There can be no common law of 
the United States, unless by legislative adoption. The federal government 
is composed of twenty-four (now 38) sovereign and independent states, 
each of which may have its local usages, customs, and common law. 
When, therefore, a common law right is asserted, we must look to the 
state in which the controversy originated." — Wheaton v. Peters, 8 Peters 
591. Kendall v. United States, 12 Peters 524. "The courts of the United 
States have no jurisdiction, derived from the common law, to define and 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 29 

punish criminal offences. — The United States ??. Hudson, 7 Cranch 33; 
United States v. Coolidge, 1 Wheaton 416; United States v. Bevans 3 
Wheat on 336. "The construction which British statutes had received in 
England at the time of their adoption in this country, indeed, to the time 
of separation of this country from the British empire may very properly be 
considered as accompanying the statutes themselves, and forming an in- 
tegral part of them. But however subsequent decisions may be respected, 
and certainly they are entitled to great respect, their absolute authority is 
not admitted. If the English courts vary their construction of a statute 
which is common to both countries, we do not hold ourselves bound to 
fluctuate with them. — Ibid. We insert the following authority from the father 
of the constitution of the United States, Mr. Madison, on this subject : "But 
neither the common, nor the statute law of that, (England) or of any other 
nation, ought to be a standard for the proceedings of this, unless previously 
made its own by legislative adoption."— The Federalist, No. 42, p. 238. 
Several of the states of the Union have retained the English common law 
practice, in their courts ; but New York and some other states have departed 
from the common law pleadings, and they have adopted, '"'-theNew York Code 
'practice.'''' The following states have adopted the common law by constitu- 
tional provisions: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan 
and some other states, have adopted the " common law of England; and all 
the statutes of Parliament made in aid thereof, prior to the fourth year of 
the reign of James I, which are of a general nature and not local to the 
kingdom, were adopted in Virginia by the statute of 1776." Held by the 
supreme court of Minnesota, on an indictment for conspiracy, "that 
conspiracy, though not declared a crime by our statute law, is punishable 
in this state. Our statutes as to crimes were intended as a modification and 
not as an entire repeal or abrogation of the common law." — (Berry J., 
dissenting) State of Minn. v. PuUe et al., 13 Minn. R. p. 164. "The common 
law, by which every man is bound to keep his cattle upon his own land, is in 
force in Minnesota."— Locke v. first division St. Paul & P. R. R. Co. 15 Minn. 
R. p. 350. It has been decided by the supreme court of the United States, 
that the decision of the state courts makes a part of the statute law." — 
Shelly V. Grey, 11 Wheaton 361. — " Where ausage is sanctioned by judicial 
decisions, it becomes the law of the place." — Cookendorfer v. Preston, 4 
Howard 317. Although the constitutions of the states, before the Federal 
constitution was adopted, were republican in form, yet they were very 
dissimilar. The legislatures may be deemed the mouthpieces of the people 
— they spoke the sovereign will — in colonial times they exercised extraordi- 
nary powers, for the executive was elected by the legislature in New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. — Federalist, No. 47, 
p. 365, 266, 267. If I am not mistaken, and I think I am not. 
South Carolina and Georgia are the only states in the Union where 
the legislature elects the executive. The executives are elected by 
the people in every other state in the Union. The New England 
States have adopted the principle, that, "where annual elections end, 
tyranny begins," — Federalist No. 53, p. 289, by annually electing the 
executive and legislature. In New York, the governor is elected by the 
people for 2 years ; he shall be a native-born citizen of the United States, 30 
years of age, and a resident of the state 5 years. In New Jersey, the 
executive is elected for three years, he shall be 30 years of age. In Penn- 
sylvania, the executive is elected for 3 years, he shall be 30 years of age. 
In Maryland, the governor is elected, age 30 years, a citizen of the 
United States five years, and an inhabitant of the state 5 years. North 



30 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Carolina, governor elected for 2 years. South Carolina governor's term of 
office 2 years, age 30, an inhabitant of the state ten years. Florida, governor 
elected for 4 years, age 30 years, a citizen of the United States ten years, 
and an inhabitant of the state 5 years. Alabama, governor elected for 2 
years, age 30 years, a native citizen of the United States, and an inhabitant 
of the state 4 years. Mississippi, governor elected for two years, a citizen 
of the United States 20 years, and an inhabitant 5 years. Louisiana, 
governor elected for 4 years, a citizen of the United States 15 years, 
an inhabitant of the state 15 years. Tennessee, governor elected for 
2 years, age 30 years, a citizen of the United States, residence 7 
years. Kentucky, governor elected for 4 years, age 35 years, a citizen 
of the United States, residence 6 years. Ohio, governor elected for 
2 years. Indiana, governor elected for 4 years. Illinois, governor 
elected for 4 years, a citizen of the United States, age 35 years, a citizen 
of the United States 14 years, a resident 10 years. — Constitutions 1818. 
In Missouri, (Constitutions 1821) the governor elected for 4 years. In 
Arkansas, the governor is elected for 4 years (Constitution, 1836), he shall 
be " a native-born of Arkansas, or a native-born citizen of the United States, 
or a resident of Arkansas ten years previous to the adoption of the constitu- 
tion," if not a native of the United States." In Texas, the governor is 
elected for 2 years (Constitution 1845), he shall be "a citizen of the United 
States, or a citizen of the State of Texas, at the time of the adoption ot 
this constitution. " In Iowa the governor is elected for 4 years (Constitu- 
tion, 1845), he shall be a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the 
state 2 years. In Wisconsin, the governor is elected for 2 years, he shall 
be a citizen of the United States. In California, the governor is elected 
for 2 years, he shall be a citizen of the United States and a resident of the 
state 2 years. In Minnesota the governor is elected for 2 years, he shall 
be a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the state one year. 
The following is the constitutional provision of qualification of members of 
Minnesota legislature: "Senators and representatives shall be qualified 
voters of the state, and shall have resided one year in the state, and six 
months immediately preceding the election in the district from which they 
are elected." Connecticut has the following in its constitution: "Every 
person shall be able to read any article of the constitution, or any section 
of the statutes of this state, before being admitted an elector." Massachu- 
setts has a similar provision in its constitution. Conn, amendment (1855.) 
In some states the legislature meets annually, and in others biennially. In 
New Jersey, senators shall be thirty years of age, a citizen of the United 
States four years, and a resident of the state four years ; in Pennsylvania, 
(Constitution 1838), a senator shall be twenty-five years of age, a citizen of 
the United States four years, and a resident of the state four years; in 
Florida, a senator shall be a citizen of the United States two years, and 
resident of the state two years; in Alabama a senator shall be a white citi- 
zen of the United States three years, and a resident of the state two years. 
In Mississippi, a senator shall be a citizen of the United States 
four years; in Louisiana, a senator shall be a citizen of the United 
States ten years, and a resident of the state four years; in Ten- 
nessee, senators shall be three years, and a citizen of the United States. 
The legislative power, in each state, is vested in two houses. The legisla- 
ture in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire is styled the General 
Court ; in Vermont and Rhode Island, the General Assembly ; and in Maine, 
the Legislature ; in New York, the Senate and Assembly ; New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama, the General Assembly ; Mississippi, the Legislature ; in 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 31 

Michigan, Senate and House of Representatives ; in Wisconsin, Senate and 
Assembly ; in California, Senate and Assembly ; and in Minnesota, Senate 
and House of Representatives. In some states the Legislature is styled the 
Senate and House of Representatives ; in others, the Senate and Assembly ; 
in others, the Senate and House of Delegates ; and in North Carolina the 
Senate and House of Commons. The judicial department is elected in 
Vermont, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota ; and appointed either by the governor, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate or by the legislature in the following states ; 
Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. — Constitutions in 1848. 
Several states of the Union have provided in their constitutions the follow- 
ing declaration of rights : that all power is inherent in the people ; that all 
men are born free and equal ; that the freedom of speech and of the press 
shall not be abridged; the right of trial by jury; the right to bear arms; 
the right to assemble and to petition for grievances; that the military shall 
be subordinate to the civil power ; that private property shall not be taken 
for public use without just compensation ; that no tax shall be imposed 
without the consent of the people, that no soldier, in time of peace, shall 
be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner or occupant ; 
that no person shall be subject to martial law, except such as are employed 
in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service, in time of war, 
or public danger ; that the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety 
may require it ; that the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, and 
papers against unreasonable searches and seizures; that the legislature shall 
pass no bill of attainder, ex post facto law ; that feudal tenures shall he abol- 
ished; that no person shall be disfranchised " unless by the law of the land, 
or the judgment of his peers ; " free exercise of religion to all mankind, 
that all elections shall be free and equal ; that no standing army shall be 
kept up in time of peace. In Pennsylvania and some other states it is pro- 
vided (Constitution, 1838) that emigration from the state shall not be pro- 
hibited. It is provided in Vermont and other states, "that no person 
shall be liable to be transported out of this state for trial of any offence 
committed within the same." In Delaware and other states, it is provided 
that "no power of suspending the laws shall be exercised, but by the 
authority of the legislature." In Maryland, it is provided that "sanguinary 
laws ought to be avoided as far as is consistent with the safety of the state ;" 
that a well regulated militia is the proper defence of a free government ; 
that monopolies are odious and contrary to the spirit of a free government. 
It is provided, in the constitution of Michigan, "that the credit of the state 
shall not be granted to, or in aid of any person or association. — Constitution, 
1836. In Florida, it is provided, that perpetuities and monopolies are contrary 
to the genius of a free state, and ought not to be allowed." In Alabama — 
"No human authority ought, in any case whatever, to control or interfere 
with the rights of conscience." Massachusetts, Virginia and other states 
have held in their constitutions that the rulers are the servants of the peo- 
ple, that "the idea of a man born a magistrate, lawgiver, or judge, is 
absurd and unnatural. " In Virginia it is held " that all power is vested in, 
and consequently derived from the people ; that magistrates are their trustees 
and servants^ and at all times amenable to them." The following states 
have recognized the right of rebellion in their constitutions : New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, 



33 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Arkansas and Texas. New Hampshire has held, "that the doctrine of 
non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, 
and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind." — Ibid. For the 
right of revolution, see the Federalist, No. 32, p. 168. Kent's Comm. 
vol. 1, pp. 22, 23, 24, 25, and pp. 208, 209; Vattel's Laws of Nations 
Book 1, chap. 4, p. 18; and 1 Blackstone, marginal page 245, top page 184. 
The States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and North Carolina 
have retained in their constitutions a religious test. We copy the following 
from the constitution of North Carolina. — Constitution 1776. " No person 
who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or 
the divine authority of either the Old or New Testaments, or who shall 
hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the 
state, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit, in the 
civil department within this state." — Ibid. The following provision is in the 
constitution of North Carolina (Con. 1776): "No clergyman, or preacher 
of the gospel of any denomination, shall be capable of being a member of 
either the senate or house of commons, or council of state, while he 
continues in the exercise of his pastoral function." — Ibid. The following is 
held in Massachusetts ; the governor shall "declare himself to be of the Chris- 
tian religion." The following states have held in their constitutions, that 
no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public 
trust, Delaware, Tennessee, Indiana Illinois. — Constitution 1818. Texas, 
Iowa, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Alabama, and Minnesota. In some states there 
is a property qualification for voting and holding office. In Mississippi there 
is a C(mstitutional provision that "no property qualification for eligibility to 
office, or for the right of sufirage, shall ever be required by law in this state." 
This was so in 1848. In Iowa, Wisconsin, California, it is provided, that no 
distinction shall ever be made by law between resident aliens and citizens, in 
reference to the possession, enjoyment, or descent of property." The times when 
the terms of state, county and town officers shall commence are provided in the 
state and constitutional laws of the several states, as well as the manner of 
filling vacancies in said offices. So the officer to whom resignation of office 
shall be tendered depends on the constitutions and laws of the several 
States. In Minnesota, it is provided in the constitution, that the governor 
shall fill vacancies "in the office of secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, 
attorney general, and such other state and district offices as may be 
hereafter created by law, until next annual election, and until their 
successors are chosen and qualified." — Sec. 4, Art. 5, Con. Minn, "In case 
the office of any Judge shall become vacant before the expiration of the 
regular term for which he was elected, the vacancy shall be filled by 
appointment by the Governor until a successor is elected and qualified. And 
such successor shall be elected at the first annual election that occurs more 
than thirty days after the vacancy shall have happened." — Sec. 10, Art, 6, 
Con. Minn. 9 Minn. 283. Consequently the above officers shall tender 
their resignation to the Governor. The following provision is in the 
constitution of some states: "The Governor shall issue writs of election to 
fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature." 
For certain purposes, a state is a corporation. — Abbot's Digest, vol. 5, p. 
76. When a State is sued process shall be served on the "Governor, or 
chief Executive magistrate, and the Attorney General of such state." 
Rules and orders of the Supreme Court of the United States, Aug. 12, 1796. 
From the foregoing commentaries it can be seen that the states can 
establish any form of government not anti-Republican in form, and not 
repugnant to the constitution of the United States, and laws of Congress 
made in pursuance of the constitution of the United States, and the treaties 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 33 

of the United States. — Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton 1. Worcester ■y. 
The State of Georgia, 6 Peters 515. The municipal regulations of a state are 
not binding on the United States. — Palmer v. Allen, 7 Cranch 550. The 
state cannot tax the constitutional means employed by the general govern- 
ment to execute its constitutional powers. — McCuUoch v. The State of Mary- 
land, 4 Wheaton 316. A state cannot tax the property of the United States. 
—Opinions Atty. Gen. 1 vol. pp. 101-2; lb. 469.— i&. 486-7. It is provided 
by act of Congress, in virtue of the Constitution of the United States, that 
*' all the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers of the several states," shall take an oath to support the con- 
stitution of the United States, etc. — Brightly 's Dig. 706. 

The Territorial Government. 

It has been the policy of the United States to organize new territories 
out of the vast public domain, by an act of Congress, called the 
organic act, providing a temporary government for such territory. 
A governor and secretary are appointed by the President of the 
United States, for 4 years unless sooner removed by the President 
of the United States. The legislative power is vested in the governor 
and " a Legislative Assembly." The assembly is composed of two 
houses, a Council and House of Representatives. Previous to the first 
election, the governor orders a census of the inhabitants of the territory. 
The territorial legislature can pass all acts extending to all rightful subjects 
of legislation, consistent with the constitution of the United States and the 
provisions of the organic act. — Minn, Statutes, p. 17. The legislature has 
power to organize counties and townships. All the laws passed by the 
legislative assembly and governor shall be submitted to the Congress of the 
United States, and if disapproved, shall be null and of no effect. — Ibid. 17. 
The judicial power or the territorial government is vested in a Supreme 
Court, District Courts, Probate Courts, and justices of the peace. The 
Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and two associate justices. The 
territory is divided into three Judicial Districts. One of the Judges of the 
Supreme Court shall hold a court in each district. An appeal lies from the 
district courts to the supreme court of the territory; and an appeal lies 
from the supreme court of the territory to the supreme court of the United 
States. An attorney and a marshal are appointed for four years for such 
territory. Congress provides the manner of taking oath of office by the 
territorial officers. The governor, secretary, chief justice, and associate 
justices, attorney and marshal, shall be nominated, and by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, appointed by the President of the United 
States. The President of the United States is the proper officer to whom 
the governor and secretary, judges, attorney and marshal shall tender their 
resignation. — Opinions of the Attorneys General of the United States, 
vol. 2, pp. 883-4-5-6-7, and vol. 1, pp. 475, 607. A delegate to 
Congress is elected by the qualified voters entitled to rote for members 
of the Legislative Assembly. It has been the policy of Congress to 
pass an act authorizing the inhabitants of a territory to form a state 
government. It is provided in said act for calling a state convention 
to form a constitution and state government to be submitted to the 
people for ratification. The marshal shall take the census of the in- 
habitants of the proposed state. Said state shall be entitled to one 
representative to Congress ; and such additional representation as the state 
may be entitled to. Provisions are made in the constitution for the time 
and manner of electing state officers ; the qualification of voters at the first 



34 CIVIL GOYERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

election; and the manner of submitting tlie constitution to the people for 
adoption or rejection. It has been the policy of Congress to extend "all 
the laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable " to the 
New States. — 5, Statutes at Large, 788. The new constitution is then sub- 
mitted to Congress when an act of Congress is passed admitting the new 
state into the "Union on equal footing with the original states. — Opinions 
of Attorneys General U. S. vol. 2, pp. 14, 19-20, vol. 1, pp. 101-2, and vol. 
2, pp. 1006-7-8-9-10. "Foreign-born child. In the absence of any law 
of the United States governing the particular case, the question, whether 
one born out of the United States is a citizen, is to be determined by the 
common law, as it existed, irrespective of English statutes, at the adoption 
of the Federal constitution." — Court of Appeals, 1863, Ludlam v. Ludlam, 
26 N. Y., 356. "If it be conceded that a citizen of the United States can 
renounce his allegiance without the consent of the government, he cannot 
do this until he becomes a citizen under some other gorernment, and 
this he is not competent to do until he arrives at full age." — lUd. 
"Therefore, where a citizen of the United States went to Peru at 
the age of eighteen years, with the intention of indefinite continu- 
ance there for the purpose of trading, but took no steps to be nat- 
uralized in Peru, or to indicate an intention of a permanent change 
of domicile, otherwise than as before stated, held that his child 
born to him in Peru of a wife the native of that country, was a citizen of 
the United States." lUd.— Abbott's New York Dig. vol. 7, page 129. 
"The legislature of this state possesses the whole legislative power of the 
people, except so far as they are limited by the Constitution. In a judicial 
sense, and so far as the courts are concerned with its application and con- 
struction, their authority is absolute and unlimited, except by the express 
restrictions of the fundamental law." — Court of appeals, 1863. Bank of 
Chenango ??. Brown, 26, N. Y. 467; JUd. 529; Supreme court, 1864;' 
Clarke v. Miller, 42 Barb. 255; Luke v. city of Brooklyn, 43 lUd. 54. "A 
child of a naturalized alien. By the act of Congress of April 14 1802, 
minor children of any parent duly naturalized, and who, at the time of 
such naturalization of the parent, resided within the United States, are 
entitled to all the privileges of citizens, immediately on attaining majority. 
—8, Page 443, N. Y. Com. Pleas Special Term, 1861. Matter v. Morrison 
2-2 Howard, Pr. 99. 

Regulation of Coimmerce. — Navigation. 

The power to regulate pilotage is included in the power to regulate com- 
merce conferred upon Congress by the Constitution of the United States. — 
9 Wheaton 1, 10 Peters 108; 11 lUd. 159, 7 Howard U. S. 283; 12 lUd. 317. 
And laws and ordinances of a state which conflict with the regulations of 
an act of Congress, must yield to it. — 11 Peters, 158, N. Y. Superior Ct. 
1860, Cisco «. Roberts, 6 Bosworth, 494.— Abbotts, N. Y. Dig. vol. 6, p. 117. 
"Restrictions upon the states, retrospective laws, which do not impair 
the obligation of contracts, or affect vested rights, or partake of the char- 
acter of ex post Jacto laws, are not prohibited by the Constitution."— 3 
Dall. 386, 36 Me., 9, Supreme Ct. 1862, Bay d. Gage, 36 Barb. 447. 

States of the Union deemed Cohporations. 

The individual states having submitted their interfering territorial claims 
to the judiciary of the United States, are, in respect to those rights, to be 
deemed to have ceded their sovereignty to the United States, and to be, so 
far considered as corporations ; and the right of a state to grant lands so 
be judged by the same rules of common law as the rights of 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 35 

persons; so that a conveyance of the lands, if adversely held, is void. — Ct. 
of Errors, 1800, Woodworth v. James, 2 Johnson's cases, 417; Supreme 
Court, 1800, Whitaker v. Cone i&. 58; Belding v. Pitkin, 2 Caine, 147. 
"Though the parties of one part to a contract are foreigners, and the con- 
tract is made without the state, if it is performed within this state they 
must be presumed to know the laws of the state, and are in pari delicto. 
There cannot be one rule for the foreigner and an other for the citizen." 5 
Selden 53, 3 Comstock, 266, Ct. of Appeals 1858, Dewitt v. Brisbane 16 N. 
Y. (2 Smith) 508. "Removing from the country, O. and his family, na- 
tives of New York, joined the British forces in 1782, and never returned to 
reside in this country. Held, that having thus elected to continuous allegi- 
ance to the British crown, they must be regarded as aliens and not entitled 
to inherit." 20 Johnson 313, 3 Peters 99. Supreme court 1842, Orser ^. 
Hoag, 3 Hill, 79. " CitkensMp iy 'birth. L. was born in the city of New 
York, in 1819, of alien parents, during their temporary sojourn in that city. 
She returned with them the same year, to their native country, and always 
resided there afterwards. Held, that she was a citizen of the United States." 
Lynch v. Clarke, 1 Sandford ch. 583, 638 ; S. C. 3 N. Y. Leg. obs. 236. 
' ' Alien liable for crime. That an alien, in whatever manner he may have 
entered our territory, is, if he commit a crime while here, amenable to our 
criminal law." Supreme Court 1841. — People v. McLeod, 25 Wend, 483, 573, 
S. C. 1 Hill, 377. "An alien cannot be admitted as a counsellor of this court, 
since he cannot take the oath of allegiance, etc.— Supreme Court, April, 1801, 
case of Mr. Caines, 3 Johnson's cases, 499. "The enlistment of an alien into 
the army of the United States is valid and binding on the alien enlisted." 
Supreme Ct. 1843, the United States??. Wyngall, 5 Hill 16. '■'' Renouncmg 
natv/ralization. A naturalized citizen who continues to reside here is liable 
to be sued in the state courts as a citizen. He cannot make himself an alien 
by merely taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign power, he must, at least, 
also change his residence. Supreme Court, 1801, Fish v. Stoughton, 2 John- 
son's cases, 407. Decisions of the Federal courts. Upon questions arising up- 
on the construction of the Federal constitution, the decisions of the courts of 
the United States are final and conclusive ; and will be followed by the courts 
of this state, whatever may be their own views upon the question." @t. Ap- 
peals, 1850, McCormick -y. Prickering, 4 N. Y. (Comst.), 276. Supreme 
Court, 1819, Roosevelt v. Cebra, 17 John, 108, Ct. of Errors, 1838, Cochran 
V. Yan Surlay, 20 Wend, 365; Supreme Court 1843, Kunzler v. Kohans, 5 
Hill, 317, 3 Cowen, 713. "The Supreme Court is bound, when called upon in 
due form to do so, to pronounce invalid all acts of the legislature clearly 
conflicting with the fundamental law of the constitution." Supreme Court 
1857, Clarke??. City of Rochester, 24 Borb, 446, S. C— 5 Abbott's Pr. 107, S.C. 
14, How, Pr. 193. ' ' It seems, that although the declaration of independence 
was made by congress on the 4th of July, 1776, and although the convention 
of delegates of this state adopted the declaration on the 9th, and although we 
had committees and temporary bodies of men, who took charge of the public 
safety we (the State of N. Y.) had no executive, legislative, or judicial 
authority, nor any organized government until the adoption of the 
Constitution on the 2t)th of April, 1777. Jackson v. White 20 Johnson 313. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 



CHAPTER v.— FEDERAL G0VERN3IENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

OF AMERICA. 

It has been held by high authority that the states were sovereign before 
the union. Kent. vol. 1, p. 208. Madison and others have held that they 
are sovereign under the Constitution of the United States. Federalists, 
No. 40, p. 312. Articles of confederation of Nov. 15, 1777. 1 Kent's 
Comm. p. 210. Supreme Court United States, Mcllvaine vs. Coxe, 4 
Cranch, 209. Warren Manufacturing Company, m. ^tna Insurance 
Company, 12 Paine, 501. Buckner v. Finley 12 Peters, 590. Dodge v. 
Woolsey, 18 How. 350. Bank of the United States, v. Daniels, 12 Peters, 
33 Bank of Austa v. Earle, 13 Peters, 520. Dodge v. Woolsey, 18 
How. 350-1. Ohio Life Insurance Company v. Debolt, 16 How. 428. 
The thirteen colonies entered into a confederation styled the " confederacy 
of the United States of America." Arts. Confederation. Art. 1. The 
old Congress was composed of delegates annually appointed in such "a 
manner as the legislature of each state shall direct." 5. Art. Confed. — Each 
state maintained its own delegates. — Art. 5. Confed. Each State had the 
right to recall its delegation. — Art. 5. Confed. Each state had but one 
vote. — Art. 5. Confed. All disputes between the States were decided 
by Congress. — Arts. Confed., 9. It was further provided that no 
two or more states should enter into any treaty; that no state 
should lay imposts and duties or keep vessels of war in time 
of peace; that no state should engage in war without the consent 
of Congress. Congress had power to regulate the "value of coin 
struck by their own authority ; " to regulate trade and manage Indian 
aifairs ; to establish post offices ; to borrow money. It was also provided 
that alterations in the articles of confederation should be confirmed by the 
"legislature of every state;" and that the "Union shall be perpetual," — 
Art. 13, confed. The following clause was inserted in the articles of con- 
federation, to prevent the federal government from encroaching on the 
rights of the states by the exercise of implied powers. "Art. 2, Each state 
retains its own sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, 
jurisdiction and right, which is not by the confederation expressly delegated 
to the United States in Congress assembled." — Art. 2, confed. Before the 
constitution of the United States went into operation (on the first Wednes- 
day in March 4, 1789, Owings v. Speed, 5 Wheaton 420) all the departments 
of government were blended in one mass — 1 Kent's Comm. 214, nearly 
similar to a state or county convention. The federal form of government re- 
mained in force until the 4th day of March, 1789, when the new constitution 
went into operation. — Kent's Comm. vol. 1, p. 219, Owings v. Speed, 5 
Wheaton, R. 240. The constitution of the United States has divided the 
co-ordinate powers of the government into three departments, the 
legislative, executive and judicial. Federalist No. 47, pp. 261-2-3-4-5- 
6-7. These co-ordinate branches were intended as mutual checks and 
balances. The president has a veto on the acts of Congress, but Congress 
can pass a bill by two-thirds of the votes cast over the president's veto. 
Again, one house of Congress is a check on the deliberations of the other; 
and the judiciary is the final tribunal to settle disputes between the 
Congress and the executive; and to decide on the constitutionality of 
the laws and treaties of the United States; and to decide on conflicts 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 37 

between the state governments and the federal government, and con- 
troversies between two or more states. Constitution of U. S. Art. 3. sec. 
3. The Federalist No. 49, p. 275, Fed. No. 51, p. 381. The United States 
can exercise no other powers or authority over the states or the in- 
habitants thereof but such powers as have been delegated to it by the con- 
stitution of the United States, expressly, or by necessary implication. 
Brisco xi. the Bank of the commonwealth of Kentucky 11 Peters 257. 
United States ©. Bailey. 1 McLean 234. Dodge v. Woolsey 18 How, 349. 
It would be as gross usurpation on the part of the Federal government to 
interfere with state rights by an exercise of powers not delegated as it would 
be for a state to interpose its authority against a law of the Union." Craig 
v. Missouri, 4 Peters, 463. Alabama v. Booth, 21 How, 506, Ex parte Mil- 
ligan, 4 Wallace, 4. Twitchell v. The commonwealth, 7 Wallace, 321 (in 
year 1868) Texas v. White, 7, Wallace, 700. Hepburn v. Griswold 
8 Wallace, 603. United States v. Hudson, 7 Cranch, 33. The 

Supreme Court of the United States has, from time to time, been appealed 
to for the settlement of boundaries between the states, Rhode Island v. 
Massachusetts, 13 Peters 657. United States v. Combes, 13 Peters 73. 
The Supreme Court have decided that all state laws repugnant to the laws, 
treaties, and constitution of the United States are void. Amis v. Smith, 16 
Peters 303. The same court have decided that the government of the 
United States acts on the people within the scope of the constitution ; and 
that the governments of the states act on the people unless such powers 
conflict with the constitution of the United States. Rhode Island d. the 
State of Massachusetts 12 Peters 657. 

Congress. 

The legislative powers of Congress are vested in two houses of Congress ; 
a Senate and House of Representatives. The members of the House of 
Representatives are elected by the people of the several states, by the elec- 
tors qualified to vote for members of the " most numerous branch of the 
state legislature," that is, for members of the assembly or House of Repre- 
sentatives. Members of Congress shall be citizens of "the United States and 
of the age of twenty-five years. "Each House shall be judge of the elec- 
tions, returns, and qualifications of its own members." The House of 
Representatives elects its own speaker ; and with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member. The question has been raised whether a Senator 
or Representative can be impeached, under sec. 4, Art. 2 Constitution of 
the United States. Held by Judge Story in his Commentaries, vol. 2, pp. 
259-262, and by the Supreme Court in the case of Anderson v. Dunn. 
6 Wheaton 204, that members and senators of Congress cannot be 
impeached; that though members and senators are not responsible 
for words spoken in Congress, yet if a member causes his speech 
to be published he may be indicted for it or sued on a civil action for 
libel.— Kent's Comm., p. 235, (note). The legislature, under the con- 
stitution, provides for the times, places, and manner of holding 
elections for Senators and Representatives. The Constitution pro- 
vides for filling vacancies in the House of Representatives, thus, 
when vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the executive 
authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies." Con. 
U. S. sec. 4. Art, 1. So when a member of Congress resigns he should 
tender his resignation to the House of Representatives and to the executive 
of his state. Congress shall meet annually on the first Monday in December. 
The first Congress met under the present constitution on Wednesday, 



38 ■ CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

March 4, 1789. Two years make one Congress, counting from March 4, 
1789. The senate of the United States is composed of two senators from 
each state. Senators shall be 30 years of age and citizens of the United 
States. Senators are elected by the state legislature by joint vote or ballot 
of the two houses, — See Minn, constitutions, Art. 4. sec. 26, and 1 Kent Com. 
pp. 225-6. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of 
the senate. The senate can expel a member by "two-thirds vote of the 
senate." The executive of each state issues writs of "election to fill 
vacancies. When a senator resigns he should tender his resignation 
to the senate and the executive authority of his state. — 1 Kent's 
Comm. 224. It has been held by high authority that senators are not 
impeachable, under section 4. Art. 2, of the constitution of the United 
States. — 1 Kent's Comm. p. 235. note. — Anderson v. Dunn. — 6 Whea- 
ton, R. p. 204. — Story's Coram, constitution, vol. 2. pp. 259-262. 
The senate is the high court of impeachment for trying the "President, 
Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, but the House of 
Eepresentatives " shall have the sole power of impeachment. The Senate 
tries the case and passes judgment of guilty or not guilty, as the case may 
be. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the members present, judgment extends to "removal from office, and 
disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit, under 
the United States. But the party convicted is subject to be indicted. 
Bills for raising revenue shall originate with the House of Representatives. 
A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business. 1, 
Kent's Comm. pp. 235-6. Act of Congress, June 1, 1789, prescribes the 
oath of office for senators and members of Congress, as follows: "1. The 
oath or affirmation required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the 
United States, shall be administered in the following form, to wit: "I, A. 
B, do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the 
Constitution of the United States.'''' 2. At the first session of Congress after 
every general election of representatives, the oath or affirmation aforesaid 
shall be administered by any one member of the House of Representatives 
to the speaker; and by him to all the members- present, and to the clerk, 
previous to entering on any business; and to the members who shall after- 
wards appear, previous to taking their seats. The president of the senate 
for the time being shall also administer the said oath or affirmation to each 
senator who shall hereafter be elected, previous to his taking his seat ; and 
in any future case of a president of the senate, who shall not have taken 
the said oath or affirmation, the same shall be administered to him by any 
one of the members of the senate. — Brightly's Digest. The oath of office to 
be taken by the secretary of the Senate and cleik of the House 
of Representatives is prescribed by the act of June 1, 1789. — Bright- 
ly's Digest, 169. The- framers of the Constitution intended that each house 
should be a check on the other. — 1 Kent's Comm. p. 236. For the ex- 
press powers of Congress, see sec. 8. Art. 1. Constitution of the United 
States. For the Constitutional restrictions on the powers of the states see 
sec. 9. Art. 1. Constitution of the United States, Federalist No. 44. pp. 241- 
2-3^-5-6. No. 43, p. 236. No. 46, p. 254. vide f). Azie v. Moore, 14 
Howard, R. 568—345. 20 Curtis Sup. C. R. Smith v. Maryland 18 Howard 
R. 71. Conway v. Taylor's Ex. 1 Black's R. 603. 20 Howard p. 66. Ableman 
v. Booth 21 Howard R. p. 506, Bank of Commerce 'd. New York City. 2 
Black's R. p, 620, Cummings v. the State of Missouri 4 Wallace R. p, 227. 
Crandall v. the state of Nevada, 6 Wallace R. p. 35, Veazie Bank v. Fenno 
8 Wallace R. p. 533 Railroad Company v^ McClure, 10 Wallace R. p. 511. 
The collector v. Day 11 Wallace, R. p. 113. Taylor «. Defrees 11 Wallace. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 39 

R. p. 331. United States v. Miller 11 Wallace R. p. 269. and 1 Dillon C. C. 
R. p. 469. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton 203. The city of New York v. 
Milner, 11 Peters 102. Groves v. Slaughter, 15 Peters 509, Prigg v. Comm. 
Pennsylvania, 16 Peters 625; Brouen v. Maryland, 12 Wheaton 438-446. 
We give from Chancellor Kent the mode of passing laws in the Congress of the 
United States; "The ordinary mode of passing laws is briefly as follows: 
one day's notice of a motion for leave to bring in a bill, in cases of a 
general nature, is required. Every bill must have three readings previous 
to its being passed, and these readings must be on different days, and no 
bill can be committed or amended until it has been twice read. Such 
little checks, in the forms of doing business are prudently intended to 
guard against surprise or imposition. In the House of Representatives, 
bills, after being twice read, are committed to a committee of the whole 
House, when the speaker leaves the chair, and takes part in the debates as 
an ordinary member, and a chairman is appointed to preside in his stead. 
When a bill has passed one house, it is transmitted to the other, and goes 
through a similar form; though, in the senate there is less formality, 
and bills are often committed to a select committee, chosen by ballot. 
If a bill be altered or amended in the house to which it is transmitted, it 
is then returned to the house in which it originated, and if the two houses 
cannot agree, they appoint committees to confer on the subject. When a 
bill is engrossed, and has passed the sanction of both houses it is trans- 
mitted to the President of the United States for his approbation, if he 
approves of the bill, he signs it. If he does not, it is returned, with his 
objections, to the house in which it originated, and that house enters the 
objections at large on its journals and proceeds to reconsider the bill. If 
after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house should agree to pass the 
bill, it is sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it 
is likewise reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
becomes a law," two-thirds of members present. — Kent. p. 239. note. "But, 
in all such cases, the votes of both houses are determined by yeas and 
nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill are entered 
on the journals. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within 
ten days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
same becomes a law, equally as if he had signed it unless Congress, by 
adjournment, in the meantime, prevents its return, and then it does not 
become a law." — 1 Kent's Comm. pp. 238-39-40. Jeffer's Manual, and 
Cushing's Rules of proceedings and debates, etc. Congress cannot control 
a State legislature. On November 30, 1779, Congress requested the legisla- 
ture of Massachusetts to stop certain suits then pending in that State, but 
Massachusetts failed to comply. Opinions of the Attorneys General of the 
United States, vol. 1, pp. 81-2. Congress cannot abolish Jury trial, unless 
in cases arising in the Army, Navy, or Militia in time of war. Opinions of the 
Attorneys General, vol, 1. p. 202. No act can be made an offence against the 
United States except by act of Congress. The courts of the United States 
cannot punish for a common law offence. Opinions of the Attorney General 
of the United States, vol. 1, p. 152. Ibid. 48. It has been held by high au- 
thority that a conflict of authority between the Executive and the Judiciary 
could be avoided by an explanatory act of Congress. Opinions of the Attor- 
ney General, U. S. vol. 1, p. 325. Congress have, under the constitution, the 
right to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several 
states. Under this power Congress can regulate the intercourse between 
the United States and foreign nations, and between the several states. No 
state can interdict vessels from entering the harbors of the United States, 
so long as they conform with the laws and regulations of Congress. 



40 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Opinions of the Attorneys General U. States, vol. 1, pp. 492-493. Act of 
Congress Feb. 25, 1799, provides that the quarantine laws of the states 
shall be observed by the Federal officers. Brightly's Dig. 810. It has been 
held that a state could pass quarantine laws. Opin. Atty. Gen, vol. 1, pp. 
716-17. Norris v. city of Boston, 4 Metcalf 282, Groves v. Slaughter, 15 
Peters' Rep. 509 ; Prigg v. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania 16 Peter's 
Rep. 625. 5 Howard, 578, Milne v. New York, 11 Peters' R. 130, Holmes v, 
Jennison 14 Peters' 568-9 Wheaton 203. When there is any doubt as to the 
meaning of an act of Congress it can be explained either by the Supreme 
Court or by an explanatory Act of Congress. Opinions Attys. Gen. U. S. 
vol. 1, p. 578. Such was the solicitation of the early judges and executives 
of the United States to avoid a conflict of authority, that in a doubtful case 
the chief justices recommended an explanatory act of Congress. Congress, 
under the constitution, have the power to declare war, raise and support 
armies. Sec. 8, Art. constitution. It has been the rule of Congress to 
declare war against a public enemy; but "war between the United States 
and a public enemy may exist without the sanction of Congress — as where 
an unexpected war is commenced against the United States, and waged 
before Congress act upon the subject." Opinions Attys. Gen. vol. 2. p. 
1168. Congress provides for calling out the Militia of the states; but the 
mititia officers appointed by the state authorities cannot be ousted by the 
officers of the United States — "not even by the President himself." Opin- 
ions Attys. Gen. vol. 2. pp. 996-7. Kent's Comm. vol. 1, pp. 261-2-3. In 
July 7, 1838, Congress passed a special act to pay the militia of New York, 
who were called out by the governor to protect the frontier. Opin- 
ions Attys. Gen. U. S. vol. 2, p. 1319. "The powers of Congress 
extend generally to all subjects of a national nature." Kent's Com. vol. 
1, p. 236. The constitution. Art. 2, Sec. 1, provides that the executive 
power shall be vested in a President, that he shall be thirty-five 
years of age and a natural - born citizen or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of the constitution, and fourteen years a 
resident of the United States. He holds his office for four years. On the 23d 
January, 1845, Congress, by virtue of the constitution Art. 2. Sec. 4. 
provided for holding elections, for the election of Presidential electors, for 
the election of President and Vice President, on the Tuesday next after the 
first Monday in the month of November, in which they are to be appointed. 
— 1 Kent. p. 275, note. It is provided in the constitution — Art. 2, sec. 1, 
' ' That the number of electors in each state shall be equal to the whole 
number of senators and representatives which the state is entitled to send 
to Congress; and, according to the apportionment of Congress." "And 
to prevent the person in office, at the lime of the election, from having 
any improper influence on his reelection, by his ordinary agency in the 
government, it is provided, that no member of Congress, nor any person 
holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be an 
elector; and the Constitution has in no other respect defined the qualifica- 
tions of the electors." — Art. 2, sec. 1, and Art. 2, sec. 2, 3. "These 
electors meet in their respective states, at a place appointed iDy the Legis- 
lature thereof, on the first Wednesday in December in every fourth year 
succeeding the last election, and vote by ballot for President and Vice- 
President, (for this last officer is elected in the same manner, and for the 
same time as the President,) and one of whom, at least, shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same state with the electors. They name in their ballots 
the person voted for as President, and, in distinct ballots, the person voted 
for as Vice-President ; and they make distinct lists of all persons voted for 
as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 41 

number of votes for each, which lists they sign, and certify, and transmit, 
sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the senate. The act of Congress of 1st of March, 1792, sec. 3, 
directs, that the certificate of the votes shall be delivered to the President 
of the senate before the first Wednesday of January next ensuing the elec- 
tion. The President of the senate, on the second Wednesday in February 
succeeding every meeting of the electors, in the presence of both houses of 
Congress, opens all the certificates, and the votes are then to be counted. The 
constitution does not expressly declare ly whom the votes are to be counted 
and the, results declared. In the case of questionable votes, and a closely 
contested election, this power may be all-important ; and, I presume, in the 
absence of all legislative provision on the subject, that the president of the 
senate counts the votes and determines the result, and that the two houses 
are present only as spectators, to witness the fairness and accuracy of the 
transaction, and to act only if no choice be made by the electors." — 1 Kent's 
Comm. p. 276. "In determining the result of the election for President in 
1841, it was declared by joint resolution of the two houses of Congress, that 
one person be appointed teller on the part of the senate, and two on the part 
of the House of Representatives, who were in the presence of the two houses 
to make a list of the votes as they should be declared, and the result declared 
to the president of the senate who was the presiding officer, and to announce to 
the two houses the state of the vote and the person elected. The Vice- 
President, in this case, broke the seals of the envelopes of the votes and 
delivered the same over to the tellers to be counted. The tellers having 
read, counted, and made duplicate lists of the votes, they were delivered 
over to the Vice-President, and read and he then declared the result, and 
dissolved the joint meeting of the two houses." — Kent, vol. 1, pp. 276-7. 
In 1801 and 1824, as no choice was made the House of Representatives re- 
tired and voted, and the senate were admitted to be present as spectators. 
The House of Representatives, in such case, are to choose immediately, 
though the constitution hold their choice to be valid if made before the 
fourth of March following. And in the cases of the elections, at the 4th 
Presidential election, in 1801, Thomas Jefierson and Aaron Burr were the 
democratic candidates for President and Vice-President. By the electoral 
returns they had an even number of votes. The election was carried to the 
House of Representatives. The House was so divided that there was a tie. 
A contest was carried on for several days, so that sick members were brought 
to the House on their sick beds. One of Burr's friends withdrew which 
elected Jefferson by one majority. This occurred on the 36 ballot. This led 
to the 12 article of amendments to the constitution. The person having the 
greatest number of votes of the electors for President, is president, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; Ijut if no 
person have such a majority, then, from the person having the highest 
number, not exceeding three, of the list of those voted for as president, the 
House of Representatives shall choose immediately by ballot the president. 
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the repre- 
sentation from each state having one vote. A quorum for this purpose shall 
consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a major- 
ity of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. If the House of Rep- 
resentatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall 
devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the 
Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other con- 
stitutional disability of the President. — Amendments, Art. 12. The person 
having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, is Vice-President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 



43 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

and if no person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers on 
the list, the senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a 
majority of the whole number is necessary to a choice; and no person 
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that 
of Vice-President of the United States. — Amendments, Art. 12. — The 
constitution does not specifically prescribe when or where the senate is to 
choose a Vice-President, if no choice be made by the electors; and, I 
presume, the senate may elect by themselves, at any time before the fourth 
day of March following. "The President and Vice-President are equally to 
be chosen for the term of four years; and it is provided bylaw." — Act 
congress, March 1, 1792, "that the term shall, in all cases, commence on 
the fourth day of March next succeeding the day on which the votes of the 
electors shall have been given." "In case of the removal of the President 
from office, or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers 
and duties of the office, the same devolve on the Vice-President ; and except 
in cases in which the President is enabled to re-assume the office, the Vice- 
President acts as President during the remainder of the term for which the 
President was elected. Congress are authorized to provide, by law, for the 
case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and 
Vice-President, declaring what officer should then act as President; and the 
officer so designated is to act- until the disability be removed, or a President 
shall be elected, and who is in that case to be elected on the first Wednes- 
day of the ensuing December, if time will admit of it, and if not, then on 
the same day in the ensuing year. " And if the office should, by the course of 
events, devolve on the speaker, of the Congress for which the last speaker 
was chosen had expired, and before the next meeting of Congress, it might be 
a question who is to serve, and whether the speaker of the House of Represen- 
tatives, then extinct,could be deemed the person intended." 1 Kent's Com.278. 
Act March 1, 1792, — 1 Statutes 239. "The electors shall meet and give 
their votes on the said first Wednesday in December, at such place in 
each state as shall be directed, by the legislature thereof; and the electors 
in each state shall make and sign three certificates of all the votes by them 
given, and shall seal up the same, certifying on each that a list of the votes 
of such state for president and vice-president is contained therein, and 
shall by writing under their hands, or under the hands of a majority of 
them, appoint a person to take charge of and deliver to the president of 
the senate at the seat of government, before the first Wednesday in January 
then next ensuing, one of the said certificates, and the said electors shall 
forthwith forward by the post office to the president of the senate, at the 
seat of government, one of the said certificates to be delivered to the judge 
of that district in which the said electors shall assemble." "The executive 
authority of each state shall cause three lists of the names of the electors 
of such state to be made and certified and to be delivered to the electors 
on or before the said first Wednesday in December, and the said electors 
shall annex one of the said lists to each of the lists of their votes." 4. If a 
list of votes, from any state, shall not have been received at the Seat of 
Government on the said first Wednesday in January, that then the secretary 
of state shall send a special messenger to the district judge in whose 
custody such list shall have been lodged, who shall forthwith transmit 
the same to the seat of government. 5. "Congress shall be in session on 
the second Wednesday in February 1793, and on the second Wednesday in 
February succeeding every meeting of the electors, and the said certificates, 
or so many of them as shall have l3een received, shall then be opened, the 
votes counted, and the persons who shall fill the offices of presi- 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 43 

dent and vice-president ascertained and declared, agreeably to the 
Constitution (see the twelfth amendment to the Constitution which was 
adopted after the passage of this act.") 6. "In case there shall be 
no president of the senate at the seat of government on the arrival 
of the person intrusted with the list of the votes of the electors, 
then such person shall deliver the lists of votes in their custody into the 
office of the secretary of state, to be safely kept and delivered over as soon 
as may be, to the president of the senate." 7, If any person appointed to 
deliver the votes of the electors to the president of the senate, shall, after 
accepting of his appointment, neglect to perform the services required of 
him by this act, he shall forfeit the sum of one thousand dollars." 8. In 
case of removal, death, resignation, or inability both of the president and 
vice-president of the United States, the president of the senate ipro tempore, 
and in case there shall be no president of the senate, then the speaker of the 
house of representatives, for the time being, shall act as president of the 
United States until the disability be removed or a President shall be elect- 
ed." 9. Whenever the offices of president and vice-president shall both 
become vacant, the secretary of state shall forthwith cause a notification 
thereof to be made to the executive of every state, and shall also cause the 
same to be published in at least one newspaper printed in each state, spe- 
cifying that electors of the president of the United States shall be appointed 
or chosen in the several states w^ithin thirty-four days preceding the first 
Wednesday in December then next ensuing; provided, there shall be the 
space of two months between the date of such notification and the said first 
Wednesday in December; but if there s.hall not be the space of two months 
between the date of such notification and the first Wednesday of December; 
and if the term for which the president and vice-president last in office 
were elected shall not expire on the third day of March next ensuing, then 
the secretary of state shall specify in the notification that the electors shall 
be appointed or chosen within thirty-four days preceding the first Wed- 
nesday in December in the year next ensuing ; within which time the elec- 
tors shall accordingly be appointed or chosen, and the electors shall meet 
and give their votes on the said first Wednesday in December, and the pro- 
ceedings and duties of the said electors and others shall be pursuant to 
the directions prescribed in this act." 10. The only evidence of refusal to 
accept or of a resignation of the office of president or vice-president, shall be 
an instrument in writing declaring the same, and subscribed by the person 
refusing to accept or resigning, as the case may be, and delivered into the 
office of the secretary of state. " 11. "The term of four years for which a 
president and vice-president shall be elected shall in all cases commence on 
the fourth day of March next succeeding the day on which the votes of the 
electors shall have been given." 12. "The person appointed by the 
electors to deliver to the president of the senate, a list of the votes for 
president and vice-president, shall be allowed, on delivery of said list, 
twenty-five cents for every mile of the estimated distance, by the most usual 
rout, from the place of meeting of the electors to the seat of government of the 
United States, going and returning." 13. "The electors of president and 
vice-president shall be appointed in each state on the Tuesday next after the 
first Monday in the month of November of the year in which they are to 
be appointed; Provided, that each state may by law provide for the 
filling of any vacancy or vacancies which may occur in its college of electors 
when such college meets to give its electoral vote : And provided also, when 
any state shall have held any election for the purpose of choosing electors, 
and shall fail to make a choice on the day aforesaid, then the electors may 
be appointed on a subsequent day in such manner as the state shall by law 



44: CIYIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

provide. Ih. 253-4. 1 Kent's Com. 277, note. The president is commander- 
in-chief of the army and navy, and of the militia of the several states, 
when called into the service of the United States. He has the 
power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachments. It has been decided by 
the attorney general of the United States, that the President can pardon 
conditionally. That the president can pardon before condemnation. Opinions 
of the Attorneys Gen. U. S. vol. 1, p. 251. The president may pardon for 
contempt of court. Op. Attys. Gen. U. S. vol. 2, p. 1382. lb. vol. 2, 1034. 
"There can be no doubt of the power of the President to order a nolle prose- 
qui in any stage of a criminal prjceeding in the name of the United States ; 
such an order, however, is never hastily given, because it interferes with 
the action of an other branch of the government, viz.: the judiciary." 
Opinions of the Attys. Gen. vol. 1, p. 335, Ih. 723-4, 730-732. Now, if the 
President may order a prosecution begun, to be discontinued, it is evident 
that he may forbid the commencement. And if, after the seizure of the proper- 
ty, and before it is libelled, he becomes satisfied that it has been wrongfully 
and improperly seized, he may direct the district attorney not to institute 
proceeding against it. The president is the proper authority to authorize 
the agents of the government to settle and adjust claims with the States. 
Opinions Attys. Gen. United States, vol. 2, p, 983. — Opinions of the attor- 
neys general United States, vol. 2. p. 862.— /Z>. 1241-2 vol. 1. p. 169, vol. 7 
p. 267. The President, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, has 
power to make treaties with foreign powers and with Indians, provided 
two-thirds of the senate present concur. — Kent's Com. vol. 1, p. 284. Thus, 
the President is the constitutional organ of communication with foreign 
powers. The president is the functionary who acts with foreign nations or 
powers or their agents and through the law officer of the district informs 
the judiciary of violations of the law which come under the juris- 
diction of the courts. — 7 Cranch 116. 2 Dallas 365. The President is 
vested with that portion of the national power which relates to foreign 
nations. Opinions Attys. Gen. vol 1. p. 380. International questions with 
foreign nations usually sent to the secretary of state, who lays such papers 
before the President. Opinions Attys. Gen. vol. 1, pp. 734-5. The 
president nominates, and, with the advice and consent of the senate, 
appoints ambassadors, or public ministers and consuls, the judges of the 
Supreme Court, and all other officers whose appointments are not other- 
wise provided for in the constitution; but congress may vest the 
appointment of inferior officers in the president alone, in the courts 
of law, or in the heads of departments. The " nomination to the office 
by the President, confirmation by the senate, signature of the commis- 
sion, and affixing to it the seal of the United States, are all the acts 
necessary to render the appointment complete." — United States v. La 
Baron, 19 Howard 73. Kent's Com. p. 287. Judges of the Supreme Court, judges 
of the District Courts, heads of departments, consuls, ambassadors and public 
ministers and all other officers who are appointed by the president, under 
the constitution, or the laws of congress, should tender their resignation 
to the President. Ex parte Duncan N. Hennen 13 Peters 225, act of 
Congress Feb. 20, 1863, 12 Statutes at Large 666, Brightly's Dig. 115. 
For the power of the President to remove officers whose commission shall 
last during the 'pleasure of the President— &eQ opinions Attys. Gen. vol.^ 1, 
p. 157. The President makes all appointments which may occur during 
the recess of the senate, though the vacancy did occur before the adjourn- 
ment of the senate.— Opins. Attys. Gen. vol. 1, p. 476, lUd. 326. lUd.^ 480. 
The President has the power of appointing such officers, as are established 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 45 

by law.— Op. Attys. Gen. vol. 1, p. 710, see judicial acts 1789-1790. It has 
been decided by the supreme court of the United States, in the case of ex 
parte Duncan N. Hennen. 13 Peters 225, that the power of removal is 
vested in the President. That the power of removal is incident to the 
power of appointment, ex parte Duncan N. Hennen 13 Peters 225. — 1 Kent's 
Comm. 440, Ibid. 309, Federalist No. 77, p. 1. The President, by acts of 
Congress, is empowered to call the public lands into market ; to appoint 
officers of the land office; to appoint surveyors general and pay- 
masters. He may order the survey of military roads; lease lead- 
mines, and order the payment of Indians, and regulate Indian 
affairs. — Act. June 30, 1834. By act 3 March 1853, the President 
may change the location of land offices ; appoint and regulate trade with 
the Indians; regulate the diplomatic and consular officers; to cause the 
coast to be surveyed ; to cause the erection of additional arsenals ; and to 
direct the sale of unserviceable military stores. Brightly's Digest, 464. 
The president may employ the public vessels as he may judge expedient 
in the survey of the coast. Opinions Attys. Gen. vol. 2, p. 1285. The presi- 
dent can instruct the United States marshal to remove intruders from the 
public lands. Opinions Attys. Gen. vol. 1, p. 353. The president is author- 
ized by act of April 20, 1818, to enforce the neutrality laws. Brightly's 
Digest, 688. By act of April 20, 1818, the president may compel foreign 
vessels to depart from the United States. By act of Congress, it is provided 
that the president appoint officers to hold a general court martial. The 
sentence to be sent to the secretary of war, to be laid before the president 
for confirmation or approval or order in the case. Brightly's Digest, 83. 
Held that an officer cannot be tried by court martial for an offence while 
he is held on an indictment for the same offence. — That such interference 
would place the military above the civil power, 16 Wisconsin Hep. 361. 
Opinions Attys. Gen. vol. 2, pp. 1276-7. We insert the act of February 
28, 1795, empowering the president to call out the militia. Act February 
28, 1795. "1, In case of an insurrection in any state against the govern- 
ment thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on 
application of the legislature of such state, or of the executive, (when the 
legislature cannot be convened,) to call forth such number of the militia 
of any other state or states as may be applied for, as he may judge sufficient 
to suppress such insurrection." "2. Whenevever the laws of the United 
States shall be opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed in any state by 
combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial 
proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by this act, it shall be 
lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia of 
such state, or of any other state or states, as may be necessary to suppress 
such combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed ; and the use of 
militia so to be called forth may be continued, if necessary, until the expira- 
tion of thirty days after the commencement of the next session of Congress." 
3. "Whenever it may be necessary in the judgment of the president, 
to use the military force hereby directed to be called forth, the president shall 
forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse, and retire 
peaceably to their respective abode, within a limited time." 4. "In all 
cases of insurrection or obstruction to the laws, either of the United States, 
or of any individual state or territory, where it is lawful for the president 
of the United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of suppressing 
such insurrection, or of causing the laws to be duly executed, it shall be 
lawful for him to employ, for the same purposes, such part of the land or 
naval force of the United States, as shall be judged necessary, having first 
observed all the prerequisites of the law in that respect" — Brightly's Digest, 



46 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

440 Act July 27, 1789. "There shall be an executive department, to be 
denominated the department of foreign affairs; and there shall be a princi- 
pal oflScer therein, to be called the secretary for the department of foreign 
affairs, who shall perform and execute such duties as shall from time to 
time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the President of the United 
States, agreeably to the Constitution, relative to correspondence, commis- 
sions, or instructions to or with public ministers or consuls, from the United 
States, or to negotiation, with public ministers from foreign states or princes, 
or to memorials or other applications from foreign public ministers or other 
foreigners, or to such other matters respecting foreign affairs, as the Presi- 
dent of the United States shall assign to the said department ; and further- 
more, the said principal officer shall conduct the business of the said depart- 
ment in such manner as the President of the United States shall from time to 
time order or instruct." Act Sept. 2, 1789, created the office of secretary of 
war. Brightly's Digest 879. Act Sept. 9, 1789 created the secretary of the 
Treasury. Brightly's Digest 879. Attorneys General's office was created by 
Act Sept. 24. 1789. The office of postmaster- general was created by act of 
March 3, 1825. The office of secretary of the Navy was created by act of 
April 30, 1798. The secretary of the Navy shall execute the orders of the Presi- 
dent of the United States. Brightly's Digest 680. The office of secretary of the 
interior was created to perform the duties of the land office. The said secre- 
tary of state, secretary of war, secretary of the Treasury, Attorney-General, 
postmaster general, secretary of the navy, and the secretary of the interior 
form the President's Cabinet Council. For vacancies in the departments, see 
Act of Congress Feb. 20, 1863, 12 Statutes 656, Brightly's Digest 115. Act Aug. 
3^, 1861, empowers the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
senate, to appoint an adjutant general and assistant adjutant general and 
inspector general of the army. Brightly's Digest vol. 2, pp. 10-11. The 
department of agriculture was established May 15, 1862. A commis- 
sioner of agriculture is appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the senate. Brightly's Digest, vol. 2, p. 4. Act 
of March 3, 1859, provides for the appointment of an assistant Attorney 
General. Brightly's Digest vol. 2, p. 30. Act June 3, 1864, the President ap- 
points comptroller of the currency. Ibid. 51. The Freedmen's Bureau was 
established in the war department, to continue for one year after the re- 
bellion. Act March 3, 1865. 13 Statutes 507. Brightly's Dig. 430. Act June 
20, 1864, established a bureau of military justice in the war department, 
with a judge advocate to be appointed by the President, by and with the 
consent of the senate. Brightly's Dig. vol. 2, p. 26. Act July 4, 1864, 
empowers the President to appoint Commissions of Immigration. 
Brightly's Dig. vol. 2, p. 148. 

The Judiciary. 

The judiciary is the third department of the Federal Government of the 
United States. The Supreme Court of the United States is, by virtue of 
the constitution, the expounder of the constitution, laws and treaties 
of the United States, from whose decision there is no appeal. — 1 Kent's 
Comm. 313, — 1 Kent's Comm. 295. The judicial power of the United States 
extends to all cases of law, equity, treaties and acts of Congress arising un- 
der the constitution ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, and other public 
ministers and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; 
to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to contro^^ersies 
between two or more states; to controversies between a state, when plaintiff, 
and citizens of another state, or foreign citizens or subjects ; to controveries 
between citizens of different states, and between citizens of the same states 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 47 

Claiming lands under grants of different states; and between a state or citi- 
zens thereof, and foreign states ; and between citizens and foreigners. It 
has been held by the supreme court, in the case of Chisholm v. the State of 
Georgia, in 1793, that a state was suable by the citizens of another state. 
The legislature of Georgia defied the Judicial authority, on this question, 
of the supreme court. To avoid a conflict of authority between the several 
states and the Federal government Congress, in 1794, proposed an amend- 
ment to the constitution, which was subsequently adopted. It was provided 
by the amendment, that the Judicial power of the United States should not 
extend to any suit in law or equity against one of the United States by citizens 
of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. The inhi- 
bition applies only to citizens or subjects, and does not extend to suits by a 
state, or by foreign states or powers. "They retain the capacity to sue a 
state as it was originally granted by the constitution; and the supreme 
court has original jurisdiction in the case of suits by a foreign state against 
one of the United States." Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Dennison, 
Governor of Ohio, 24 Howard's Rep. p. 66. 1 Kent's Comm. 297. The supreme 
court was instituted by the Constitution and the judiciary act of 
1789. It has been decided that the Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdic- 
tion in civil actions where the state is a party, except that a state 
cannot be sued by its own citizens or the citizens of other states 
or by aliens. But it has jurisdiction where the state is plain- 
tiff. — 1 Kent's Comm. 298. The judges of the supreme court are judges 
of the circuit courts. These courts are vested with original juris- 
diction, concurrent with the courts of the several states, of all civil ac- 
tions in law and equity, where the matter in dispute exceeds five hundred 
dollars, exclusive of costs, where the United States are plaintiffs, or an 
alien is party, and the suit is between a citizen of the states where the suit 
is brought, and a citizen of an other state. And no civil action can be 
brought against an inhabitant of the United States out of his district. — 1, 
Kent's Com. p. 302. The Circuit Courts have original jurisdiction in law and 
equity of all actions arising under the revenue laws of the United States, 
and under the laws relating to copy rights or pacents. — 1 Kent's Com. 302. 
The District Courts and Circuit Courts derive their power from the provi- 
sion in the constitution which provides that Congress may " establish 
courts inferior to the Supreme Court. The district courts have jurisdiction 
of admiralty and maritime cases, and for penalties and forfeitures 
incurred for a violation of the laws of the United States. They have 
concurrent jurisdiction with the state courts of causes where an alien 
sues for a tort committed in violation of the law of nations, or of a 
treaty of the United States. — -1, Kent's Com. 304. The state courts are 
invested by acts of Congress with jurisdiction, in certain cases of causes 
arising under the laws of the United States. ' ' The state courts may, 
in the exercise of their ordinary, original and rightful jurisdiction in- 
cidently take cognizance of laws arising under the constitution and the 
laws, and treaties of the United States; yet to all these cases the judicial 
power of the United States extends, by means of its appellate jurisdiction." 
— 1, Kent's Com. 397. But an appeal may be taken from the decision 
of the state courts to the supreme court of the United States. The supreme 
court determines what is the supreme law of the land. — 1 Kent's Com. p. 
313. Held in the case of the United States v. Worrall, that the United 
States could not punish for common law offences. — 1, Kent's Com. 309. 
The Federal courts had no criminal jurisdiction only what they derive from 
the constitution and acts of Congress. Held by the best of authority that 
the United States cannot exercise any powers but what are granted in the 



48 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

constitution, given either expressly or by implication. — 1 Kent's Com. 312. 
Thus, all conflicts between the Legislative and the Executive departments 
of the Federal government, as well as conflicts between the States 
and the general government, are settled by a judicial decision of 
the Supreme Court. — Federalist 208-9. Madison, in the Federalist 
speaking of the Supreme Court, says. Some such tribunal is 
clearly essential to prevent an appeal to the sword." — Federalist, 208-9. 
The following is from De Tocqueville. "They have left them," the courts, 
' ' at liberty not to apply such laws as may appear to them to be unconstitu- 
tional. This fact can only be explained by the principles of the American 
constitutions." In England, the parliament has an acknowledged right to 
modify the constitution ; as, therefore, the constitutioiQ may undergo perpet- 
ual changes, it does not in reality exist ; the Parliament is at once a legis- 
lative and a constitutional assembly, since the Parliament which makes the 
laws also makes the constitution." De Tocqueville, pp. 80-1. The fol- 
lowing is from Wm. Wirt on the coordinate departments of the govern- 
ment, " My opinion is, that the judiciary can no more arrest the Executive 
in the execution of a constitutional law, than they can arrest the Legislature 
itself in passing the law. Opinions of the Attorneys General U. S. p. 508. 
Held that the judiciary cannot arrest by injunction the powers of the 
executive. Opinions of the Attorneys General, vol. 2, p. 1280, 4 Wisconsin 
Rep. p. 567. Bash ford i) Barstow, Ibid. 594. "There is no power in the 
judiciary to remedy injustice and oppression in a legislative act, except, 
where in an attempted injustice or oppression, some constitutional pro- 
vision is violated." Hamilton and Treat v. St. Louis county, 15 Missouri 
Rep. p. 3. "Before a court will pronounce a law unconstitutional, the court 
must be free from doubt, and the violation must be palpable. So long as a 
doubt remains, the legislative act should be enforced, — Armstrong v. Treas- 
urer of Athens Co., 10 Ohio Rep. pp. 235-237." It is the right of the legis- 
lature to enact laws, and of the province of the court to construe them. 18 
Ohio Rep. 125-127. Act Feb. 24 1855, created a court of claims to hear 
cases against the United States, and to report their finding in the 
form of a bill for the action of Congress. — Brightly 's Dig. 198. For a 
conflict between the states and the Federal government on the regula- 
tion of commerce and the internal police of the states, see Gibbons v. 
Ogden 9 Wheaton, 203, the City of New York v. Milne, 11 Peters 102, 
Brown «j. Maryland, 12 Wheaton 438-446, Groves et al. v. Slaughter, 15 
Peters, 509. Prigg v. Com. Pennsylvania, 16 Peters 625. 5 Howard, 578. 
' ' Being admitted upon a footing of equality with other states, the State of 
Mississippi had the rightful power to change the channels or courses of 
rivers within the interior of the state, for the purposes of internal improve- 
ment." Withers v. Buckley, 20 Howard R. p. 84. "A state law, granting 
to an individual an exclusive right to navigate the upper waters of the 
Penobscot River, lying wholly within the limits of the state, separated from 
tide water by falls impassable for the purpose of navigation, and not form- 
ing a part of any continuous track of commerce between two or more 
states, or with a foreign country, is not repugnant to the Constitution or 
any law of the United States." Veazie «j. Moore 14. H. 568-345, 20 Curtis 
Sup. C. R. "The soil below low water-mark in the Chesapeake Bay, 
within the boundaries of the State of Maryland belongs to the State." 
Smith V. Maryland 18 Howard R. 71. The decision of a state court not 
binding on the Supreme Court of the United States in a question of Consti- 
tutional law. Jefferson's Branch Bank v. Skelly, 1 Black's Rep. 436. 
The authority to establish ferries is not given to the general government, 
but is reserved to the states. Conway v. Taylor's Ex. 1 Black, R. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOBT OF UNITED STATES. 49 

603. "In a suit between two states, this court has original jurisdiction, 
without any further act of Congress regulating the mode and form in 
which it shall be exercised. Commonwealth of Kentucky «. Denni- 
son, Governor of Ohio. 24 Howard, 66. This was an application 
to the Supreme Court by the Governor of Kentucky for a mandamus 
to compel the Governor of Ohio to deliver up a fugitive from justice. 
Held by the court that : "The act does not provide any means to compel 
the execution of this duty," delivering up a fugitive, "nor inflict any 
punishment for neglect or refusal on the part of the Executive of the state ; 
nor is there any clause in the Constitution which arms the government of 
the United States with this power. Indeed, such a power would place 
every state under the control and dominion of the general government, even 
in the administration of its internal concerns and reserved rights. And 
we think it clear, that the Federal Government, under the Constitution, has 
no power to impose on a state officer, as such, any duty whatever, and compel 
him to perform it." 34 Howard, 66. "The process of a state court or judge 
has no authority beyond the limits of the sovereignty which confers the 
judicial power." " A habeas corpus, issued by a state judge or court has 
no authority within the limits of the sovereignty assigned by the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. The sovereignty of the United States and of a 
state are distinct and independent of each other, within their respective 
spheres of action, although both exist and exercise their powers within 
the same territorial limits. "When a writ of habeas corpus is served on 
a marshal or other person having a prisoner in custody under the author- 
ity of the United States, it is his duty, by a proper return, to make 
known to the State Judge or Court the authority by which he holds 
him. But, at the same time, it is his duty not to obey the process of 
the state authority, but to obey and execute the process of the United 
States." — 21 Howard, R Ableman v. Booth, 506. A state tax on the 
loans of the Federal Government is a restriction upon the constitutional 
power of the United States to borrow money, and if the state had such a 
right, being in its nature unlimited, it might be so used as to defeat the 
Federal power altogether. Bank of Commerce v. New York City. 3 Black's 
R. p. 620. Under the form of creating a qualification or attaching a con- 
dition, the state cannot in efi"ect inflict a punishment for a past act which 
was not punishable at the time it was committed. "Deprivation or sus- 
pension of any civil rights for past conduct is punishment for such conduct. " 
A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without a 
judicial trial. If the punishment be less than death the act is termed a 
bill of pains and penalties. Within the meaning of the constitution bills 
of attainder include bills of pains and penalties. The clauses of the second 
article of the constitution of ]\[issouri set forth in the statement of the case 
of Cummings v. The State of Missouri 4 Wallace, pp. 279-281, which re- 
quires priests and clergymen, in order that they may continue in the 
exercise of their professions, and to be allowed to preach and teach, to take 
and subscribe an oath that they have not committed certain designated acts, 
Some of which were at the time offences with heavy penalties attached, 
and some of which were at the time acts innocent in themselves, 
constitute a bill of attainder within the meaning of the provision in the 
Federal constitution prohibiting the states from passing bills of that 
character. An ex post facto law is one which imposes a punishment for 
an act which was not punishable at the time it was committed. 
Cummings v. The State of Mssouri 4, Wallace, R. p. 227. " A special 
tax on a railroad and stage companies for every passenger carried 
out of the state by them is a tax on the passenger for the privilege of 



50 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

passing through the state by the ordinary modes of travel, not a simple 
tax on the business of the companies, and is unconstitutional and void." 
Crandall v. State of JS'evada, 6 Wallace, R. 35. "The tax of ten per 
centum imposed by the act of July 13, 1866, on the notes of state banks 
paid out after the 1st of August, 1866, is warranted by the Constitution." 
Veazie Bank v. Fenno, 8 Wallace R. p. 533. "Congress has no power to 
make paper money a legal tender, or lawful money in discharge of private 
debts which existed in virtue of contracts made prior to its acts attempt- 
ing to make such paper a legal tender and lawful money for the payment 
of such debts." — Hepburn v. Griswold, 8 Wallace, R. 603. In the above 
case. Chase, Clifford, Nelson, Field and G-rier held as above; dissenting. 
Miller, Swayne and Davis. Since this decision was rendered Grier resigned, 
and Grant appointed an attorney of the Pennsylvania Central and Camden 
and Amboy R. Rs., for the purpose of reversing this decision. This was 
not enough, for the court was reorganized by appointing another judge 
friendly to the party in power for the purpose of overruling the above de- 
cision ; which has been done. The Constitution of a state is a law, within the 
meaning of that clause of the constitution which ordains that "no state 
shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts. Railroad Company 
V. McClure 10 Wallace R. p. 511." The decision of a state court which 
simply held that promissory notes, given for the loan of confederate currency 
together with a mortgage to secure the notes, were nullities, on the ground 
that the consideration was illegal, according to the law of the state, at the 
time the contract was entered into, is not a decision repugnant to the Fed- 
eral constitution. — "Bethel v. Demaret, 10 Wallace, R. p. 537." Congress 
cannot impose a tax upon the salary of a judicial officer of a state." The 
Collector v. Day 11 Wallace, R. 113. "It, (congress) is not deprived of 
the power to make war, to suppress insurrection, to levy taxes, to make 
rules concerning captures on land and sea, when the necessity for their ex- 
ercise is called out by domestic insurrection and internal civil war, instead 
of by foreign war." — Tyler v. Defrees 11 Wallace, R. p. 331. "It can de- 
termine what property of public enemies shall be confiscated." United 
States v. Miller 11 Wallace, R. p. 269. " The power of the Federal govern- 
ment to improve public navigable waters, when called into exercise, is not 
only paramount but exclusive, and cannot lawfully be interfered with to any 
extent, by or under state authority." United States •«. Duluth. Dillon, C. C. 
R. p. 469. "The United States may, in such cases, enjoin illegal interference 
by state authority." Ibid. A court of the United States has no jurisdiction to 
restrain by injunction, the erection of a bridge over a navigable river 
lying wholly within the limits of a particular state, where such erection 
is authorized by the legislature of the state, though a port of entry has 
been created by Congress above the bridge. — Milnor v. New Jersey Rail- 
road Company, 6, American Law R. p. 6, Brightly's Dig. vol. 2, p. 85. 



CHAPTER VI.— FOREIGN IMMIGRATION — NATURALIZATION — 
NATIVE AMERICANS AND KNOW-NOTHINGS. 

As early as 1639, Massachusetts passed a law for the removal of foreign 
paupers. The next step was to require an indemnity bond from the master 
of vessels. Virginia passed a similar regulation. Pennsylvania had a law 
for laying a duty on foreigners and Irish servants. Virginia passed a law 
Nov. 13, 1788, forbidding masters of vessels from landing convicts, under 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 51 

penalty of fifty pounds. The same year, similar laws were passed by 
Georgia and South Carolina. New York and Massachusetts passed similar 
laws in 1791, and Pennsylvania in 1789. But this example was never fol- 
lowed by the General Government, except in the case of the '■'■ alien and sedi- 
tion laws," in 1798. In 1836, the legislature of Massachusetts passed the 
following resolution: "Resolved, that it is expedient to instruct our 
senators, and request our representatives in Congress to use their endeavors 
to obtain the passage of a law to prevent the introduction of foreign paupers 
into this country, and to favor any other measures which Congress may be 
disposed to adopt, to effect this object." Congressional Globe 1835-6, vol. 
12, part 2, p. 1378. The following letter from Mayor Clark, will show the 
spirit of the anti- foreign policy of the Native Americans : 

"Mayor's Office, New York, June 5, 1837. 

" Gentlemen of the Common Council: 

" The laws of this State require that the captain of every ship or 
vessel, landing passengers in this city from a foreign country or from another 
state, shall report the name, last legal settlement, place of birth, age or oc- 
cupation of such passengers, to the mayor of the city, within twenty-four 
hours after the arrival, under a penalty of $75 for each passenger so neg- 
lected to be reported; and that every person not heing a citizen of the United 
States, coming to this city with the intention to reside, shall report him- 
self to the mayor within twenty-four hours after arrival, under a penalty of 
$100 for neglecting so to do." The opinion is entertained that there is a 
settled arrangement in some parts of Europe to send their famishing hordes 
to our city. The operations of certain companies have been noticed. But 
contractors are becoming so covetous that they afflict this country with a 
pauper population in consideration of receiving from steerage passengers 
more than $2 per head extra, for agreeing to land them in New York ; in- 
stead of which these traders in foreign paupers secretly clear their vessels 
for Amboy, in the State of New Jersey, there to land the said passengers, and 
thereafter send them to New York by other conveyance, or leave them to 
provide for themselves. Our city is generally the place to which ihej contract 
to be carried on leaving Liverpool. This business is likely to be fiercely 
driven through the ensuing year. Hundreds of thousands of the popula- 
tion of portions of Europe are in a state of poverty, excitement and wretch- 
edness — the prospect before them very discouraging. — The old country 
has more people than it is convenient to support. And although many of 
them feel no particular anxiety to leave their native land, they see others 
depart — they read the mixture of truth and fiction, published by those em- 
ployed to obtain passengers — they are assured they can easily return if they 
are not suited with the country — that certain employment, enormously high 
wages, and almost sure wealth await them. The times being more un- 
promising in other countries than in our own, they imagine they 
cannot change for the worse, and hither they come. They cannot 
fail to be an intolerable burthen to us. As soon as they arrive within 
our limits, many of them begin to suffer and to beg. Some of those by the 
Lockwoods commenced as mendicants on the first day they saw our city, and 
some of them on the first night thereafter sought the watch-house for a 
shelter ; others solicited aid at the commissioner's office, and not a few at 
the Mayor's residence. Nearly 2,000 arrive each week, and it is not likely 
that many months will elapse before the number per week will be 3, 000. In 
the 5(??'ms, which came in on Saturday, there were about 150 steerage passen- 
gers. They were landed from a lighter, near the foot of Rector Street, at 



52 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

10 A. M. on Sunday. Some of them declared they had not means to 
obtain one day's storage for a chest. Our streets are filled with the wan- 
dering crowds of these passengers — clustering in our city — unacquainted 
with our climate — without money — without employment — without friends 
— many not speaking our language — and without any dependence for food, 
or raiment, or fireside — certain of nothing but hardship and a grave ; and to 
be viewed, of course, with no very ardent sympathy by those native citizens 
whose immediate ancestors were the saviours of the country in its greatest 
peril. Besides, many of them scorn to hold opinions in harmony with the 
true spirit of our government. They dri^e our native workmen into exile, 
where they must war again with the savage of the wilderness — encounter 
again the tomahawk and scalping knife — and meet death beyond the 
regions of civilization and of home. It is apprehended they will JSring dis- 
ease among us; and if they have it not with them on arrival, they may 
generate a plague by collecting in crowds within small tenements and foul 
hovels. What is to become of them ? is a question of serious import. Our 
whole almshouse department is so full that no more can be received there 
without manifest hazard to the health of every inmate. Petitions 
signed by hundreds, asking for work, are presented in vain. Private 
associations for relief are almost wholly without friends. Thousands 
must therefore wander to and fro on the face of the earth filling 
every part of our once happy land with squalid poverty and with 
profligacy." — "By chapter 56, section 16, of the laws and ordinances of the 
city of New York, it is enacted, that in all cases where the Mayor shall 
deem it expedient to commute for alien passengers arriving at this port, 
instead of requiring indemnity bonds, he is authorized to receive such sum, 
in lieu of such bonds, as he shall deem adequate, not less than one dollar 
and not more than ten dollars, for each passenger. I deem it my duty to 
inform the common council, that it is my intention, hereafter, in all cases 
where it would not be unreasonable, to require and demand ten dollars for 
such commutation, from each alien passenger. And on advising with the 
commissioners of the almshouse as to this intention, I am authorized to say 
that they approve and unite with me in it ; and I am bound to believe that it 
will receive the sanction of the public. Our city should not, whenever it 
can be avoided, receive more persons likely to become chargeable. It will 
be a herculean task to employ and take care of those who are already within 
our jurisdiction. Our funds appropriated for charitable purposes promise no 
overplus. Provisions, fuel, and clothing for the almshouse, are still very 
expensive. Laborers are not sought after, and while we pity the griefs and 
sorrows of all our fellow-creatures, we cannot deny that a preference, in 
the distribution of charities, as well as place and employment, is due to the 
descendants of the soldiers of the revolution, and to the heroes and suff^erers 
of the second war of independence. It was asked by the fathers of American 
liberty. It has been promised to their sons, it cannot be conceded to aliens 
without great indignity to our native and adopted citizens ; and if foreign 
paupers and vagrants come here for political purposes, it is proof irresist- 
ible that our naturalization laws ought to be immediately revised, and the 
term of residence greatly extended to qualify them to vote or hold office. 
Many are, I admit, orderly, well-disposed men, but many of them 
are of the opposite character. It is believed the action of the 
common council in the premises is particularly desirable. Our citizens 
bad no serious turn-outs, no riotous parades, no conspiracies against 
the business and families of quiet, industrious and honest American 
operatives, until after officious interference by mischievous strangers, 
and it is melancholy to observe, that in the mad career of some of 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 53 

these foreigners to destroy our happy system, they have lately recom- 
mended to a large meeting of our citizens that they should carry with them 
deadly weapons of various kinds, to all our future public assemblages. 
These wild strangers should learn that to do so, is not peaceably to assem- 
ble, as provided by the Constitution. Indeed a reason for taking the 
proper measures to diminish the number of arrivals, is drawn from the fact, 
that, in addition to the great and grievous expense they would add to the 
city, should they continue to be numerously thrown upon us, the Common 
Council will be called upon to provide an armed and a mounted police for 
both day and night time. Peace cannot be otherwise expected. Many of 
them come from places where nothing less secures tranquillity. 

"Aaron Clark." 
A committee of the Common Council made the following report : 
"The committee on laws, to whom was referred the message of his honor 
the Mayor, relative to the quarantine laws and alien passengers beg leave 
to report in part — That its members have felt a deep interest in the very 
important matters which the Mayor has so promptly, in the discharge of his 
official functions, brought before the notice of this board; that upon a 
proper and discreet settlement of the interesting questions submitted in 
the communication, depend the peace, prosperity, and good order of this 
city. The immense numbers of persons arriving at this port, fleeing from the 
poverty, starvation and oppression of Europe, are calculated, certainly, not 
only to excite our sympathy for these unfortunate beings, but to create 
a well founded alarm, as to the results upon our municipal prosperity, 
as well as the character and morality of our population. The greater 
number of these immigrants (for there are those who, devoted to 
agricultural pursuits, and bringing with them some little property and a 
good reputation, are calculated to add to the resources of the common- 
wealth), are absolutely penniless and despairing with the accumulated filth, 
which long confinement on shipboard and an habitual want of cleanliness 
produce; they almost immediately on their arrival, roam the streets, a band 
of houseless mendicants, or apply to your alms-houses for succor. Crime suc- 
ceeds destitution. Your prisons are filled — your hospitals are crowded with 
them, and your public treasure is spent upon those who never contributed a 
cent to the general welfare. It is just — it is in accordance with the best feel- 
ings of the human heart to commiserate the sufferings of humanity however 
degraded; but in the opinion of your committee, this city owes a para- 
mount duty to itself and the country of which it is the general emporium. 
She is bound by wifc'e and efficient laws to prevent the jails and work-houses 
of Europe, from pouring out on our shores their felons and paupers ; to pro- 
hibit her from introducing here those whom she is bound by every consider- 
ation of justice to support ; to prohibit her from disgorging on our people, 
a population with principles calculated to lower the tone of morals and dis- 
organize the fame of our republican institutions. During the last year 
60,541 passengers arrived at this port. The number has greatly increased 
this season, the average being very nearly 2, 000 a week. The alms-house 
is full, containing, at this moment 3,074, of which three-fourths are 
foreigners. In fact, our public charities are principalli/ for the 'benefit of these 
foreigners; for of 1,209 persons admitted into the hospital at Bellevue, 
982 were aliens. The expense of the alms-house establishment and its 
dependencies, last year, amounted to $205,506. 63. Your committee, there- 
fore, recommend the passage of the following resolutions : 

'-'- JResohed — That it is the opinion of this board, that the Mayor may be 
requested to enter into a correspondence with Executives of the States of 



54 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

New York and New Jersey, and such other persons as to him may seem 
proper, touching the enforcement of the health laws and passenger act. 

" Besohed— That this board approve the decision of his honor the Mayor, 
in raising the amount of commutation money hereafter paid by foreign 
passengers. 

" M. C. Patterson, Chairman. 
" D. Randell." 

So much for native Americans. New York and Massachusetts passed 
laws to discourage emigration by imposing a tax upon passengers. In 1798, 
during Adams' administration, the Federal party amended the laws on 
naturalization which required a residence of fourteen years as a condition to 
be admitted to citizenship. So much for the '■'■'blue lights.'''' — ^Thomas 
Jefferson, in his message to Congress, December, 1801, recommended a 
change in the naturalization laws: — •'! cannot omit recommending a revisal 
of the laws on the subject of naturalization. Considering the ordinary chances 
of human life, a denial of citizenship under a residence of fourteen years, 
is a denial to a great proportion of those who ask it, and controls a policy 
pursued from their first settlement, by many of those states and still believ- 
ed of consequence to their prosperity. And shall we refuse to the unhappy 
fugitives from distress, that hospitality which the savages of the wildernes 
extended to our fathers on arriving in this land ? Shall oppressed humanity 
find no asylum on this globe?" So much for Jefferson, the father of de- 
mocracy, in America ! Annals of Congress, 1801-2, p. 16. An act of con- 
gress was passed at the session of 1801-2, admitting to citizenship for- 
eigners after a residence of five years, which is still the law. Annals of 
Congress of 1801-2, pages 464, 986-88-93, 1132-33-55-57. In 1844, a 
number of petitions and memorials were presented in both houses of Con- 
gress, praying for a change in the naturalization laws requiring that all 
foreigners should reside twenty-one years in the country before they could 
be admitted to citizenship. Thomas H. Benton and the democratic party 
opposed this measure. On the 7th of June, 1844, Williani^ S. Archer, of 
Virginia, spoke on the subject, thus: 

" This was a subject which he was sorry to say, had not yet sufficiently 
attracted the attention of the people of the United States. There 
was, he thought, a growing combination of circumstances, which 
furnished ample ground for the conclusion, that the great mass of 
uneducated foreigners, wholly ignorant of the nature and value of our 
institutions, annually pouring into our country, could not, within the short 
period of five years, fixed by the present law, become fit to exercise, with a 
due sense of their value and responsibility, the rights and privileges of 
native born citizens." For a debate on this subject by Archer, Buchanan, 
Berrien, and Allen — see Congressional Globe 1843-44, p. 658. On the 
31st day of May, 1844, John Quincy Adams presented petitions praying that 
the "naturalization laws may be changed so as to require a residence of 
twenty-one years for citizenship." 

Mr. Adams moved that the petition be referred to the judiciary commit- 
tee. Mr. Hammett moved that it be laid upon the table. Mr. Murphy 
ordered the yeas and nays which resulted as follows: 

Yeas — Messrs. Anderson, Arrington, Ashe, Atkinson, Barringer, Benton, 
Bidlack, Boyd, Brengle, Brinkerhoff, Brodhead, Milton Brown, William J. 
Brown, Jeremiah Brown, Burke, Caldwell, Sheperd Cary, Carroll Reuben 
Chapman, Augustus A. Chapman, Clinch Clinton, Coles, Cross, CuUom, 
Dana, Daniel, Garrett Davis, Richard D. Davis, John W. Davis, Deal, Del- 
let, Dickey, Dillingham, Dromgoole, Dunlap, Ellis, Farlee, Ficklin, Foot, 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 55 

Foster, French, Goggin, Willis Green, Byram Green, Grider, Hale, Hamlin, 
Hammett, Hardin, Harper, Henly, Herrick, Hopkins, Houston, Hubard, 
Hubbell, Hughes, Hungerford, Washington Hunt, James B. Hunt, Charles 
J. Ingerson, Irvin, Jenks, Cave Johnson, Perly B. Johnson, George W. 
Jones, Andrew Kennedy, John P. Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Labrance, Leon- 
ard, Lucas, Lumpkin, Maclay, McClelland, McClernand, McConnell, Mc 
Do well, McKay, Mosley, Murphy, Ness, Newton, Norris, Owen, Parmen- 
ter, Payne, Petit, Peyton, Purdy, Rathbun, Charles M. Reed, 
David S. Reid, Reding, Relge, Rhett, Ritter, Russell, St. John, Sample, 
Saunders, Schenck, Senter, Thomas H. Seymour, David L. Sey- 
mour, Simons, Slidell, Albert Smith, Thomas Smith, Robert 
Smith, Steenrod, John Stewart, Stone, Strong, Summer, Sykes, 
Thomason, Thompson, Tibbetts, Tilden, Tyler, Weller, Wentworth, 
Wetherard, White, Williams, Woodward, Joseph A. Wright, and Yost — 
128. Nays — Messrs. Abbot, Adams, Causin, Clingman, Collamer, Cran- 
ston, Deberry, Giddings, Grinnel, Hudson, Jos. R. Ingersoll, Daniel P. 
King, Mcllvane, Marsh, Morse, Pevnit, Elisha R. Potter, Pratt, Rodney, 
Rogers, Caleb B. Smith, Spence, Vance, Vinton, Winthrop — 26. See 
further on the subject from the Congressional Globe, 1844-45, pp. 64, 150, 
and the Appendix Congressional Globe, 1844-45, p. 130. And Smith «?. 
Turner and Norris v. City Boston. In the case of the Norris v. city of Boston, 
held by the court that: "there is nothing repugnant to the Constitution or 
law, of the United States in the third section of statute 1837, c. 238, which 
prohibits the landing of alien passengers who arrive in any vessel at any 
port or harbor in this state, until the master, owner, consignee or agent of 
the vessel, shall pay to the regularly appointed boarding officer the sum of 
two dollars for each passenger, to be appropriated for the support of foreign 
paupers." 4 Metcalf, p. 282. At the session of Congress 1837-38, the 
following was offered as an amendment 'to the pre-emption law of May 29, 
1830, with the object of prohibiting aliens from enjoying the benefit of the 
pre-emption law: 

"That the right of pre-emption granted by this act, or the act hereby re- 
vised, shall not accrue to any other person than those who were, on the 
first day of December, 1837, citizens of the United States; and such citizen- 
ship shall in all cases be established by legal and competent testimony, to 
the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land district in which 
the lands may lie, prior to any entry thereof, by virtue of the provisions of 
this act." 

This was a Whig measure. The following is from Thomas H. Benton, on 
the subject: 

"No law had yet excluded aliens from the acquisition of a pre-emption 
right, and he was entirely opposed to commencing a system of legislation 
which was to affect the property rights of the aliens who came to our 
country, to make it their home. Political rights rested on different basis." 

Mr. Merrick said : 

"I desire, Mr. President, to make a single remark in reply to the 
honorable senator from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Buchanan.) That Senator, in 
announcing briefly his opposition to the amendment before the senate, 
remarked that there seemed to be an extraordinary spirit of opposition to 
foreigners, manifesting itself in the country. I think on the contrary, there 
is a morbid affection manifested here and elsewhere for foreigners and 
aliens." 

Henry Clay spoke as follows : 

' ' He wished the senate would go for the interest of the whole Union, as 
a people, and not so exclusively for the New States. This domain was 



56 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

the public property — the property of the whole people of the United States ; 
and he thanked the senator from Maryland for introducing a proposition 
for conferring the bounty of the government to our own race, instead of 
holding out a general invitation to all the paupers of all the European 
governments to come here, and compete with our own honest poor." 

Mr. Clay spoke in reply to Mr. Buchanan thus : 

" The honorable senator from Pennsylvania has alluded eulogistically to 
foreigners. Does he mean to compare the De Kalbs, the Steubens, the La 
Fayettes, the Pulaskis, with the hordes of foreign paupers that are 
constantly flooding our shores. There were other foreigners who mingled 
in our revolutionary struggle, but on the other side, the Hessians." — Mr. 
Buchanan in reply to Clay, said, "He had observed with regret, that 
attempts were now extensively making throughout the country, to excite 
what was called a native American feeling against those who had come 
from a foreign land to participate in the blessings of our free constitution. 
Such a feeling was unjust — it was ungrateful. In the darkest days of the 
revolution, who had assisted us in fighting our battles, and achieviog our 
independence ? Foreigners, yes, sir, foreigners. Was it not a fact known to 
the world, that the immigrants from the Emerald Isle — the land of brave 
hearts and strong arms had shed their blood freely in the cause of our lib- 
erty and independence. Any foreigner from any country under the sun, 
who, after landing with his family on our Atlantic coast, will make his 
long and weary way into the forests and prairies of the Mississippi, and 
there, by patient toil, establish a settlement upon the public lands, whilst 
he thus manifests his attachment to our institutions, shows that he is 
worthy of becoming an American citizen. He furnishes us by his conduct, 
the surest pledge that he will become a citizen the moment that the laws of 
the country permit. In the meantime, so far as my vote is concerned, he 
shall continue to stand upon the same footing with citizens, and havo his 
quarter section of land at a minimum price." Mr. Clay subsequently spoke 
on the subject, thus: "What, he asked, had they seen ? A proposition 
was made by an honorable senator from Maryland, (Mr. Merrick,) to 
limit the preemptions to citizens of the United States, native and 
naturalized; rejected. And could any body say, after that naked 
vote of the senate, that it had not become the permanent policy of 
the country to go on inviting all the hordes of Europe to come over and 
partake of this bounty, derived from our ancestors, and which we should 
preserve for our posterity ? " — Appendix Cong. Globe 1837-38, pp. 128 to 
139. The following political creed is from the Boston American Crusader 
{Native American): 1. Repeal of all naturalization laws. 2. None but 
Americans for office. 3, A pure American common school system. 4. War 
to the hilt on Romanism. 5. Opposition, first and last, to the formation of 
military companies composed of foreigners. 6. The advocacy of a sound, 
healthy, and safe nationality. 7, Hostility to all papal influences, in what- 
ever form, and whatever name. 8. American institutions and American 
sentiment. 9. More stringent and efi*ective immigration laws. 10. The amplest 
protection to Protestant interests. 11. The doctrines of the revered Wash- 
ington and his compatriots. 12. The sending back of all foreign paupers 
landed on our shores. 13. The formation of societies to protect all American 
interests. 14. Eternal enmity to all who attempt to carry out the principles 
of a foreign or state church. 15. Our country, our whole country, and 
nothing but our country. 16. And finally, American laws and American 
legislation; and death to all foreign influences, whether in high places or 
low ! " In consequence of the immense immigration to the United States the 
following appeared in the public prints and in pamphlets. It went the rounds 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 57 

of tlie press, as a reason for discouraging foreign influence and foreign 
immigration: "Because any body and every body may come without 
let or hinderance, the rogues and vagabonds from London, Paris, 
Amsterdam, Vienna, Naples, Hamburg, Berlin, Rome, Genoa, Leghorn, 
Geneva, etc., may come and do come. The outpourings of alms and 
work-houses, and prisons and penitentiaries, may come and do come. 
Monarchies, oligarchies and aristocracies may and do reduce millions 
of people to poverty and beggary, and compel the most valueless 
to seek for shelter and a home in the United States of America, 
and they do so. And what are the consequences ? The consequences 
are that about 400,000 souls from Europe, chiefly Germans, Irish and Dutch 
are annually arriving in this country and making it their permanent abode. 
That a vast number of these immigrants come without money, occupation, 
friends (»r business. "That go where you will in the United States, you 
find nearly all the dens of iniquity, taverns, grog shops, beer houses, gam- 
bling places," "are kept by foreigners; and that numerous objects of 
poverty and destitution are to be seen crawling along the streets in every 
direction. This unlimited and unrestricted admission of foreign immi- 
grants, is a serious injury to the native laboring population socially, morally, 
religiously, and politically." "But there is an other consequence which 
is deserving of notice, and it is this: our manufacturers, iron makers, 
machinists, miners, agriculturists, railway, canal, and other contractors, 
private families, hotel keepers, and many others, have got into the way of 
expecting and seeking for cheap labor, through the various supplies of 
operatives, workmen, laborers, house help, and various kinds of workers, 
kept up by the indiscriminate and unrestrained admission of immigrants." 
So much for Native American love for foreigners ! The cry, in those days : 
"America for the Americans." 

The following is from a speech from James Cooper of Pennsylvania, in 
the senate of the United States, January 35, 1855 : 

"I desire to advert briefly to an other mischief not wholly, but neverthe- 
less, to some extent, the result of admitting into the country the idle and 
turbulent spirits sent hither in order to relieve their own governments of 
their dangerous presence. I refer, Mr. President, to the practice now 
prevalent in the larger cities, of organizing volunteer companies and bat- 
talions composed wholly of foreigners, bearing foreign names, wearing 
foreign uniforms, and parading under foreign colors. In New York, 
Boston, and elsewhere, you hear of German Jagers, French Chasseurs, * 
Irish Greens, Swiss Guards, &c. I am informed that in the first named city 
there is a brigade composed entirely of Irishmen, called the Irish brigade. 
Now, sir, this is all wrong, and would not be tolerated by any other govern- 
ment on the face of the earth." New Hampshire Legislature in Nov. 24, 
1798, petitioned Congress to "exclude from a seat in either branch of 
Congress, any person who shall not have been actually naturalized at the 
time of making this amendment, and have been a citizen fourteen years at 
least at the time of his election." 

Daniel Webster, in 1844, in a speech before a Whig Meeting in Faneuil 
Hall, Boston, spoke as follows: — "The result of the recent elections, in sev- 
eral states, has impressed my mind with one deep and strong conviction ; 
that is, that there is an imperative necessity for reforming the naturalization 
laws of the United States." "But it is not unreasonable that the elective 
franchise should not be exercised by a person of a foreign birth, until after 
such length of residence among us, as that he may be supposed to have become, 



58 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

in some good measure, acquainted with our constitution and laws, our social 
institutions, and the general interest of the country ; and to have become an 
American in feeling, principle, character, and sympathy, as well as by hav- 
ing established his domicile amongst us." "Those already naturalized 
have, of course, their rights secured : but I can c^pnceive no reasonable ob- 
'jection to the different provisions in regard to future cases." " I avow it, 
therefore, as my opinion, that it is the duty of us all to endeavor to bring 
about an efficient reformation of the naturalization laws of the United 
States."— Nile's Register, vol. 67, p. 172. 

So much for the hostility to foreigners by the Federalists, Whigs and 
Know-Nothings. Foreigners who have held honorable offices from United 
States senator to municipal offices would be excluded therefrom but for the 
democratic party! — It is provided by an act of July 17, 1862, that any Alien 
of the age of twenty-one years and upwards who enlisted in the armies of 
the United States during the recent rebellion and honorably discharged from 
the service of the United States, may be admitted to citizenship on proof 
of one year's residence, upon his petition, without any proof of his 
declaration to become a citizen of the United States. — Act July 17, 1862. — 
Brightly's Dig, vol. 2, p. 5. 

The reader will understand the present laws on naturalization from the 
following record of naturalization as adopted by several states, to wit: 

'•United States op America. 

" State of county of ss. 



" Be it remembered that on the of March in the year of our Lord one 

thousand eight hundred and , personally appeared before me the Hon. 

A. G. C. judge of the District court of the county of in the eighth 

Judicial District, and state aforesaid, the same being a court of record 
having and exercising common law jurisdiction, a seal, and a clerk, 
and sitting judicially for the despatch of business, at the Court- 
House in L in the county aforesaid, D. D. an alien born, 

free, white, male person, above the age of twenty-one years, and 
applied to the said court, to be admitted to become a naturalized 
citizen of the United States of America, pursuant to the several acts of 
Congress heretofore passed on that subject, entitled "An act to establish 
a uniform rule of naturalization, and to repeal the acts heretofore passed on 
that subject, approved the 14th day of April, 1802 ; an act entitled an act in 
addition to an act entitled an act to establish a uniform rule of naturaliza- 
tion and to repeal the acts heretofore passed on that subject, approved on 
the 26th day of March, 1804, an act entitled an act supplementary to the acts 
heretofore passed on the subject, of a uniform rule of naturalization, pass- 
ed the 30th day of July, 1813; the act relative to evidence in cases of 
naturalization, passed the 22d day of March, 1816; an act in further ad- 
dition to an act to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and to repeal 
the acts heretofore passed on that subject, passed May 26th, 1824; and the 
said having thereupon produced to the court record testimony, show- 
ing that he has heretofore reported himself and filed his declaration of his 
intention to become a citizen of the United States, according to the pro- 
visions of the said several Acts of Congress, and the court being satisfied as 
well from the oath of the said D. D. as from the testimony of D. C. and E. F. 
who are known to be citizens of the United States, that the said D. D. has 
resided within the limits, and under the jurisdiction of the United States, 
for at least five years last-past, and at least one year last-past within the 
state of ; and that during the whole of that time he has behaved him- 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 59 

self as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles contained 
in the constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order, 
well-being and happiness of the same, and two years and upwards having 
clasped since the said D. D. reported himself, and filed his declaration of 
his intention as aforesaid. It was ordered, that the said D. D. be permitted 
to take the oath to support the constitution of the United States, and the 
usual oath whereby he renounced all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign 
prince, potentate, state and sovereignty whatever, and more particularly to 

the of — , whereof he was heretofore a subject, which said 

oath, having been administered to the said D. D. by the clerk of said court, 
it was ordered by the court that the said D. D. be admitted to all and 
singular the rights, privileges and immunities of a naturalized citizen of the 
United States, and that the same be certified by the clerk of this court 
under the seal of said court accordingly. 

' ' In Testimony whereof, the seal of said court is hereto afi&xed at the 

clerk's office in L. this- day of A. D. 1875, and of the 

Independence of the United States, the Ninety . 

" By order of the Court, 
(Attest) "J. P. H. 
[L. S.] "Clerk of the District Court of L ." 



"Under the acts of Congress, children born abroad, not only of citizens 
by birth, but also of naturalized citizens of the United States, are citizens 
of the United States. Saspotas v. De la Motta. 10 Richardson Eq. R. 38. 
— Brightly's Dig. 5. "Allegiance of a naturalized citizen cannot be trans- 
ferred to another government, by a treaty ceding the territory in which he 
is domiciled, as in case of a natural born citizen; by such cession he is re- 
leased from his statutory alleg-iance and remitted to his original status." 
Tobin «. Walkingham, 1. McAllister 186. "An alien woman, married to 
an alien, in a foreign country, and continuing to reside there until her hus- 
band's death, does not become a citizen, under the act of 10 February 1855, 
so as to entitle her to dower, by reasons of her husband's naturalization 
subsequent to their marriage. Burton «. Burton. 12 American L. R. 425. 
By the laws of Minnesota all married women are entitled to dower, whether 
they are citizens or foreigners. Mr. Mahony, an Irishman, ex-editor of the 
Dubuque Herald and the present editor of the Dubuque Telegraph, when a 
menber of the Iowa legislature had a similar act passed by the Iowa legis- 
lature. "Under the act of 14 April 1802, the residence of an applicant for 
naturalization within the State, need not have been for the year next pre- 
ceeding his application. Cummings Petition. 41 New Hamp. 270. "Wil- 
ful false swearing, by a person giving material testimony in naturalization 
proceeding, before a state court, is an offence against the laws of the United 
States, and punishable only in the Federal Courts. People v. Sweetman 
3 Parker C. R. 358 contra Rump v. Commonwealth 6 Casey, 475. "The 
state courts, in entertaining jurisdiction of cases of naturalization, act ex- 
clusively under the laws of the United States, and are to be deemed, quoad 
hoc, courts of the United States. People v. Sweetman 3 Parker C. R. 358. 
The inhabitants of a territory ceded to the United States, by treaty, become 
citizens of the United States, without naturalization under the acts of Con- 
gress." Harrold's Case, 2 Penn. L. J. 119. In 1868, the courts of Penn- 
sylvania disfranchised foreign-born naturalized citizens. Foreign-born 
naturalized citizens, in 1868 were disfranchised. in New Orleans, who were 
naturalized in the district courts. World Almanac 1869, p. 45. Session of 



60 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Congress 1868-9, a bill was introduced in Congress providing, that all 
who had been naturalized since 1867, should give up their naturalization, 
papers and take other papers out of the courts of the United States. 



CHAPTER VII.— SOLDIERS' BOUNTY— MILITARY LAND WAR- 
RANTS—PRE-EMPTION LAW— LAND GRANTS— RAILROAD 
LANDS— HOMESTEAD LANDS— DECLARATION OF INDE- 
PENDENCE. 

The State Governments and the Federal Government granted bounty- 
lands to the soldiers who fought in the war of the revolution. — Acts of 
congress 1779 and 1780 gave to each captain in the army of the revolution 
400 acres of land. Act March 2, 1807, donated 640 acres of land to each actual 
settler who occupied them prior to July 1, 1796. — Opinions Attys. Gen. 
vol. 2. p. 1338. Act of Sept. 28, 1850, sec. 1, page 520, 9 statutes at large, 
gives land warrants to each of the surviving, their widow or minor 
children of deceased commissioned and non-commissioned officers, musi- 
cians or privates whether of regulars, volunteers, rangers, or militia, who 
performed military service in any regiment, company or the detachment in 
the service of the United States in the war with Great Britain, 
declared by the United States, on the 18th day of June, 1812, or in 
any of the Indian wars since 1790, and each of the commissioned officers 
who was employed in the military service of the United States in the 
late war with Mexico, shall be entitled to lands as follows : Those who 
engaged to serve twelve months or during the war, and actually served 
nine months, shall receive one hundred and sixty acres, and these 
who engaged to serve six months, and actually served four months, shall 
receive eighty acres, and those who engaged to serve for any or an indefinite 
period, and actually served one month, shall receive forty acres." Brightly's 
Dig. 96. Those who received land warrants for military services in the 
Mexican War should thank Gen. James Shields, an Irishman, who was then 
a senator from Illinois, and who got the bill passed. He was a true friend 
of the soldiers, and an honor to Ireland. The eighth section of the act of 
March 3, 1855, "shall be construed as embracing officers, mariners, seamen 
and other persons engaged in the naval service of the United States during 
the revolutionary war." Brightly's Dig. 99. The Democratic party, in 
the days of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe had scruples about the constitu- 
tional powers of Congress to grant lands for internal improvements, but to 
leave the States donate lands for that purpose. Act 30 April, 1802, Congress 
appropriated one-twentieth part of the net proceeds of the lands within 
the said state (Ohio), sold by Congress to be applied in making public roads 
from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic and Ohio, such roads 
to be laid out under the authority of Congress with the consent of the 
several states through which the said road shall pass. Brightly's Dig. 708. 
This was in strict conformity with the Constitution. Congress, from time 
to time, has granted to the several states formed out of the public domain, 
a percentage of the net proceeds of the sale of public lands, for public im- 
provements. Lands have been granted for " county seats," state buildings, 
seminaries, university buildings. Act Sept. 4, 1841, gives to the States of 
Minnesota and other new states, lands for internal improvements. 5 Statutes 
at Large 455. Acts of Congress have given to certain states the swamp lands 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 61 

within the same. — Bnghtly's Dig. 493. Act Feb. 17, 1855, granted the 
rio-ht of way to the Pacific Telegraph Company.— Brightly's Dig. 862. See 
act March 12, 1860, which gives swamp lands to Minnesota and Oregon.— 12 
Statutes 3. Brightly's Dig. vol. 2, p. 291. Several acts of Congress had given 
the rio-ht of pre-emption to actual settlers, residing in the territories before 
their organization. — Brightly's Dig. 527, 2 Statutes at Large 229. By Act of 
March 26, 1804, lands were sold at public auction to the highest 
bidder, the purchaser had the privilege of paying by instalments. 
—Brightly's Dig. 478. By Act of April 24, 1820, the credit 
system was abolished, and it was provided that all lands should 
be first off"ered at public auction ; if not then sold, to be subject to private 
sale at $1.25 per acre.— Brightly's Dig. 480. The price of lands before the 
passage of this act was two dollars per acre. Act May 18, 1796. Act March 
3, 1803, recognized grants from Spain and England. — Brightly's Dig. 519. 
Congress granted five per cent of the proceeds of public lands for the 
building of canals. — Brightly's Dig. 640. Congress granted lands to the 
State of Mississippi for building the Brandon Railroad. This act passed 
Sept. 4, 1841. — 5 Statutes 457. Act June 25, 1835, Congress granted to a 
railroad company ten acres of land at the junction of the St. Mark's and 
Waculla Rivers. — Opinions Attys. Gen. U. S. vol. 2, p. 13 — Act of Sept. 27 
1850, donates to each actual settler, in Oregon, one-half section of 'land, 
and one-quarter section of land was donated to each actual settler in New 
Mexico. — Brightly's Dig. 575. It was provided that settlers should reside 
on the land for four years. Act of Congress 1841 gives the right of pre- 
emption to actual settlers, on the public lands, who are citizens of the 
United States or who have declared their intentions to become such ex- 
cept those who own 320 acres of land, or who had once pre-empted, or 
who left his own land to make a pre-emption claim. No person shall pre- 
empt more than one hundred and sixty acres of land. — Brightly's Dig. 476. 
$2.50 shall be paid for lands within the limits of land grant railroads. 
All of the public lands of the United States which shall have been in 
market for ten years or upwards, prior to the time of application to enter 
the same under the provisions of this act, and still remaining unsold shall 
be subject to sale at the price of one dollar per acre ; and all of the lands 
of the United States that shall have been in market for fifteen years or 
upwards as aforesaid, and still remaining unsold, shall be subject to sale at 
seventy-five cents per acre ; and all of the lands of the United States that 
shall have been in market for twenty years or upwards as aforesaid, and 
still remaining unsold, shall be subject to sale at fifty cents per acre ; and 
all of the lands of the United States that shall have been in market for 
twenty-five years and upwards as aforesaid, and still remaining unsold, 
shall be subject to sale at twenty-five cents per acre ; and all lands of the 
United States that shall have been in market for thirty years or more, shall be 
subject to sale at twelve-and-a-half cents per acre." Act Aug. 4. 1854. — 
Statutes, 10, p. 574. In 1837, public lands were granted to a railroad com- 
pany in Louisiana, for building a depot. 5 Statutes at Large p. 196. The 
right of way was granted through the public lands to Carrolton Railroad 
Company. — Ih. 197. Act June 18, 1838, granted lands to the territory of 
Wisconsin for constructing a canal. 5 Statutes 245, June 28, 1838, the 
right of way was granted to a railroad in Florida. 5 Statutes 253. In 
1845, lands were granted to the State of Indiana to complete the Wabash 
and Erie canal to the Ohio River. 5 Statutes 731. So that up to this time, 
railroad companies were glad to get the right of way over the public lands 
and a small land grant for depots, etc. But recently they have obtained 
large land grants in the new states since the advent of the Republican 



62 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

party. The railroad grants have amounted to millions of acres. The 
whole number of acres would, if located in a body, exceed in extent the 
States of New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, and 
Pennsylvania. 

The Homestead law, passed May 30, 1862. 

"Any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of 
twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have 
filed his declaration of intentions to become such, as required by the 
naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms 
against the United States government, or given aid and comfort to its enemies 
shall, from and after the 1st January, 1863, be entitled to enter one quarter 
section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said 
person may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the 
application is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five 
cents or less per acre ; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, 
at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conform- 
ity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall 
have been surveyed; provided, that any person owning and residing on land 
may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to 
his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and 
occupied, exceed, in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres." 

"The person applying for the benefit of this act, shall, upon application 
to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such 
entry, make affidavit before the said register as receiver, that he or she is 
the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or shall have 
performed services in the army or navy of the United States, and that he 
has never borne arms against the government of the United States, or given 
aid or comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or 
her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose 
of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for 
the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever ; and upon filing 
the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, 
he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land 
specified; Provided, however, that no certificate shall be given or patent 
issued therefor, until the expiration of five years from the date of such duty ; 
and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within five years 
thereafter, the person making such entry; or, if he be dead, his widow; or 
in case of her death, his heirs or devisee ; or in case of a widow making 
such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death; shall prove by two 
credible witnesses that he, she or they have resided upon or cultivated 
the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of 
filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that no part of said 
land has been alienated, and that he has borne true allegiance to the 
government of the United States ; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at 
that time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, 
as in other cases provided for by law; And provided further, that 
in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, 
or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall issue 
to the benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor, 
administrators or guardian may, at any time within two years after the 
death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the state 
in which such children for the time being have their domicile, sell said land 
for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose ; and the purchaser 
shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent 



COIsSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 63 

from the United States, on payment of the office fees and sum of money 
herein specified." No lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall 
in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted 
prior to the issuing of the patent therefor." "No individual shall be per- 
mitted to acquire title to more than one quarter section under the provision 
of this act." " Nothing in this act shall be construed as to prevent any 
person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of 
this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may 
have been graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before 
the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the 
government, as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of settle- 
ment and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting preemption 
rights." "Besides the ten dollars fee exacted by the said act, the homestead 
applicant shall hereafter pay to the register and receiver each, as commis- 
sion, at the time of entry, one per centum upon the cash price as fixed by 
law of the land applied for, and the like commissions when the claim is 
finally established, and the certificate therefor issued as the basis of a 
patent." 

"In any case hereafter in which the applicant for the benefit of the home- 
stead and whose family or some member thereof is residing on the land 
which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and 
settlement have been made, is prevented by reason of distance, bodily infir- 
mity or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office, 
it shall and may be lawful for him to make the affidavit required by the 
original statute before the clerk of the court for the county in which the ap- 
plicant is an actual resident, and transmit the same with the fee and commis- 
sions, to the register and receiver." "If at any time after the filing of the 
affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and before the ex- 
piration of the five years aforesaid it shall be proven, after due notice to the 
settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land office, that the person 
having filed such affidavit shall have actually changed his or her residence, 
or abandoned the said land for more than six months at any time, then and 
in that event the land so entered shall revert to the government." Brightly's 
Dig. 287-8-9. 43 Cong. 1871-2, the following law was passed for the 
benefit Of soldiers and sailors : 

Homesteads Jar Soldiers and Sailors. — Provides that every honorably dis- 
charged private soldier and officer who served in the army during the 
Rebellion for 90 days or more, including troops mustered into the Service 
by virtue of the third section of "an Act making appropriations for com- 
pleting the defences of Washington," &c., approved Feby. 13, 1862, and 
every seaman, marine and officer who served in the navy or marine corps 
for 90 days during the rebellion shall, on compliance with the provisions of 
" an Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," be 
entitled to a homestead of 160, and shall be allowed six months after locating 
his homestead to commence his settlement and improvement. But no home- 
stead settler can receive a patent for his land until he shall have resided 
upon and improved it for at least one year. In case of the death of any person 
who would be entitled to a homestead under the provisions of this Act, his 
widow or children may avail of the benefits of the Act. Where a party at 
the date of his entry of a tract of land, or subsequently thereto, was actually 
enlisted and employed in the army or navy, his services are to be contrued 
as a residence for the same time upon the tract so entered. Any soldier, 
sailor or marine, officer or other person coming within the provisions of this 
Act may enter upon his homestead by an agent if he so elect, provided said 
claimant in person shall, within the time prescribed, make his actual entry, 
improvements, etc." 



64 CIVIL GOYEBNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Chap. 114. — In Relation to Bounties. — Provides that every volunteer, non- 
commissioned officer, private, musician and artificer who enlisted into 
the military service prior to July 32, 1861, under the proclamation of the 
President, of May, 3, 1861, and was actually mustered before Aug. 6, 
1861, into any regiment, company, or battery, which was accepted by the 
War Department, shall be entitled to $100 bounty. 

Tree Planting on Western Prairies. 

Chap. 55. — An act to amend the act entitled "An act to encourage the 
growth of timber on western prairies." — Be it enacted by the Senate and 
House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress as- 
sembled. That the act entitled ' ' An act to encourage the growth of timber 
on western prairies," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
three, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows : That 
any person who is the head of a family or who has arrived at the age of 
twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have 
filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the natur- 
alization laws of the United States, who shall plant, protect, and keep in a 
healthy, growing condition for eight years, forty acres of timber, the trees 
thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each way, on any quarter- 
section of any of the public lands of the United States, or twenty acres on 
any legal subdivi&ion of eighty acres, or ten acres on any legal subdivision 
of forty acres, or one-fourth part of any fractional subdivision of land less 
than forty acres, shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter- 
section, or of such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional 
subdivision of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of 
said eight years, on making proof of such fact by not less than two 
credible witnesses : Provided^ That not more than one-quarter of any section 
shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry 
under the provisions of this act, unless fractional subdivisions of less than 
forty acres are entered which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one 
quarter-section. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



In Congress, July 4, 1776. 



THE UNANIMOUS DECLAHATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people 
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, 
and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal sta- 
tion to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent 
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal 
that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights; 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to 



C02?STITUTI0NAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 65 

secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of tliese ends, it is the right of the people 
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda- 
tion on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them 
shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, in- 
deed, will dictate, that governments, long established, should not be chang- 
ed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown, 
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to 
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But 
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same 
object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their 
right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufierance of 
these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to 
alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King 
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having 
in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. 
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for 
the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing 
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be ob- 
tained ; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts 
of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation 
in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants 
only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom- 
fortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the 
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with 
manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to 
be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have 
returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the state remaining, in 
the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and 
convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that 
purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to 
pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions 
of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to 
laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their 
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of 
officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the 
consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, 
the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our 
constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their 
acts of pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 



66 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders 
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury ; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, 
establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, 
so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the 
same absolute rule into these colonies ; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and 
altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, 
and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and 
destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to 
complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with 
circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most bar- 
barous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to 
bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends 
and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to 
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, 
and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the 
most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by 
repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act 
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We 
have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to 
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of 
the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have ap- 
pealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them 
by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which 
would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too 
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, 
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and 
hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace 
friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in 
general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world 
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of 
the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these 
United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, 
and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain 
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent 
STATES, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, 
establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent 
STATES may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 67 

a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually 
pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK, 

President^ and Delegate from Massachusetts Bay. 

New RampsMre—Josiaih Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island^ &c. — Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New F(?fZ;.— William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis 
Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John 
Morton, G-eorge Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton. 

Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Ben- 
jamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jun., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter 
Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hay ward, Jun., Thomas 
Lynch, Jun., Arthur Middleton. 

^ia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



The following is from eminent authorities on the right of revolution ; ' ' But 
when the injustices are manifest and atrocious, when a prince, without any 
apparent reason, attempts to deprive us of life, or of those things the loss 
of which would render life irksome, who can dispute our rights to resist 
him ? Self-preservation is not only a natural right, but an obligation im- 
posed by nature, and no man can entirely and absolutely renounce it. And 
though he might give it up, can he be considered as having done it by his 
political engagements, since he entered into society only to establish his own 
safety upon a more solid basis ? The welfare of society does not require 
such a sacrifice ; and, as Barbeyrac well observes in his notes on Grotius ; 
' If the public interest requires that those who obey should suffer some in- 
convenience, it is no less for the public interest that those who command 
should be afraid of driving their patience to the utmost extremity. The 
prince who violates all laws, who no longer observes any measures, and who 
would in his transport of fury take away the life of an innocent person, 
divests himself of his character, and is no longer to be considered in any 
other light than that of an unjust and outrageous enemy, against whom his 
people are allowed to defend themselves." — Vattel'sLaw of Nations, Book 
1, Chap. 4, p. 22. "If the representatives of the people betray their con- 
stituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original 
right of self-defence, which is paramount to all positive forms of govern- 
ment; which against the usurpation of the national rulers, may be exerted 
with an infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers 
of an individual state." — Federalist, No. 29, p. 146. 



bo CIVIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

"This memorable declaration, in imitation of that published by the 
Netherlands on a similar occasion, recapitulated the oppressions of the 
British King, asserted it to be the natural right of every people to with- 
draw from tyranny, and, with the dignity and the fortitude of conscious 
rectitude, it contained a solemn appeal to mankind, in vindication of the 
necessity of the measure. By this declaration, made in the name, and by 
the authority of the people, the colonies were absolved from all allegiance 
to the British crown and all political connection between them and Great 
Britain was totally dissolved. The principle of self-preservation, and the 
right of every community to freedom and happiness, gave sanction to this 
separation. When the government established over any people becomes 
incompetent to fulfil its purpose, or destructive to the essential ends for 
which it was instituted, it is the right of that people, founded on the law 
of nature and the reason of mankind, and supported by the soundest 
authority, and some very illustrious precedents, to throw off such govern- 
ment, and provide new guards for their future security.'' — Kent's Comm. vol. 
1, pp. 208-9. 

Webster on revolution : 

' ' The inherent right of the people to reform their government, I do not 
deny ; and they have another right, and that is, to resist unconstitutional 
laws, without overturning the government. I admit that there is an ulti- 
mate violent remedy, above the Constitution and in defiance of the Consti- 
tution, which may be resorted to when a revolution is to be justified." — 
Debate between Webster and Hayne. 

Jackson on revolution : 

"That a state, or any other great portion of the people, suffering under 
long and intolerable oppression, may have a natural right to appeal to 
the last resort, need not, on the present occasion, be denied."— Jackson's 
Nullification Proclamation. "If therefore any future prince should 
endeavor to subvert the Constitution by breaking the original contract 
between king and people, should violate the fundamental laws, and should 
withdraw himself out of the kingdom ; we are now authorized to declare 
that this conjunction would amom>t to an abdication, and the throne 
would be thereby vacant." "In these cases" the learned author leaves 
"to future generations" to decide "whenever the necessity and safety 
of the whole people shall require it " (the right to resist the king or Ex- 
ecutive or government), "the exertion of those inherent, though latent 
powers of society, which no climate, no time, no constitution, no contract, 
can ever destroy or diminish." — 1 Blackstone's Comm. p. 245 (Marginal p.) 



CHAPTER VIII. — CONTINENTAL CONGRESS — REVOLUTION 
AND INDEPENDENCE— CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION- 
FEDERALISTS. 

The people of the colonies of New England, who left the Mother Country, 
in consequence of the oppression of the government and the established 
church, were jealous of their rights, civil and political. They wished to 
breathe the pure air of freedom in the wilds of America, and feared every 
encroachment of the despotic power of the British Crown. To avoid the 
encroachment of the British government the first Continental Congress was 
held, in 1634, composed of delegates from the four colonies of Massachu- 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 69 

setts, Plymouth, ISTew Haven and Connecticut, styled the " United Colonies 
of New England." This union lasted for forty years. The object of the union 
was to resist the tyranny of England, for annulling the charter of Massachusetts, 
in 1634 ; for Massachusetts had set up a system of church and state of her own, 
and had boldly refused to comply with the discipline of the Church of 
England. The British authorities had grave fears that the people of 
Massachusetts would separate from the mother country and form an inde- 
pendent government. A Congress met at New York, May 1, 1691, for the 
purpose of guarding the frontiers against the ravages of the Indians and 
French. Congresses educated the people to unite against the common enemy 
and to prepare them for self-government. A Congress composed of delegates 
from the New England states, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland met at 
Albany, July4th,17o4, when a plan of confederation was drawn up by Dr. 
Franklin, but was rejected by both England and America. In consequence of 
an attempt of Great Britain to tax the colonies, without their consent and 
without representation in making laws ; and other odious, tyrannical and 
oppressive measures, the people of the colonies resolved to strike for 
freedom, and to rid themselves and posterity from the thraldom of British 
misrule and despotism. Finding that England was becoming more and 
more despotic, the brave people of the colonies raised the standard of 
freedom, and nobly avowed resistance to British rule and unjust and oppres- 
sive taxation ! The first Continental Congress of the colonies met at 
Philadelphia, at Carpenter's Hall, September 4th, 1774. There were in 
attendance delegates from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Khode Island, 
and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South 
Carolina. Georgia had no delegates. Each colony had an equal voice in 
the Congress, wiiich appears from a resolution of September 6th, 1774 : 
''' Besohed — That, in determining questions in this Congress, each colony or 
province shall have one vote ; the Congress not being possessed of, or at 
present able to procure, materials for ascertaining the importance of each 
colony," — Madison Papers, 181. The first opposition to the authority of 
the congress came from Vermont. The authorities of Vermont resisted 
the authorities of New York, and seceded from that State, and set up an 
independent government. The Continental Congress, March 18th, 1780, 
called upon Vermont to submit to the authority of New York. On 
the 27th November, 1782, it was solemnly declared in congress 
that the traitorous intentions between the inhabitants of Vermont 
and the public enemy should be suppressed. The delegates from 
New Jersey were opposed to using force against the authorities of 
Vermont. But this was done under instructions from the Legis- 
lature of that State. Vermont had nullified a resolution of Congress of 
1799, which called upon her to make restitution to those whom she had 
driven from their homes. — Madison papers, 8-9. It was also declared in 
Congress that the authorities of Vermont were perfidiously devoted to the 
British interest. The only state which stood by Vermont in her secession, 
nullification, and treasonable conduct, was Rhode Island, (which w^as in- 
terested in Vermont lands), and the state of New Jersey, which acted under 
instructions from her legislature. Thus, we find Rhode Island justifying 
treason, secession, and nullification for a mere consideration — for filthy 
lucre. Thus sacrificing liberty, union, and patriotism for self-interest. — 
Madison papers, p. 10. After the peace of 1783, the monarchy-men wrote 
to Washington intimating to him that the best and most desirable form of 
government for the colonies, was a monarchy, and that he was the most 
suitable and popular person for a king. But the noble patriot and father 



70 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

of his country looked upon such scheme with disdain and detestation! The 
Tories and monarchy-men thought to use the name and popularity of the 
Father of his country to estabhsh monarchy in America — to entail on the 
colonies the fatal curse of domestic monarchy ! This would be only ex- 
changing a foreign for a domestic tyrant — foreign slavery for local and do- 
mestic slavery — this would be throwing away all the blessings of liberty ! 
sacrificing the noble boon for which the heroes of 1776 fought and bled and 
conquered ! Jefferson speaks thus, of the designs of the monarchy-men: 
"Delegates indifferent places had actually had consultations on the subject 
of seizing on the powers of a government, and establishing them by force, 
had correspondence with one another, and had sent a deputy to General 
Washington to solicit his co-operation. Herefusedto join them." "The final 
passage and adoption of the constitution completely defeated the views 
of the combination, and saved us from an attempt to establish a govern- 
ment over us by force." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 9, p. 188. The monarchy- 
men being thus foiled in their unholy attempt to establish a government by 
force and usurpation, the next plan was to form the society of '■'■ Cincinnati ^^ 
with Alex. Hamilton as grand master : with the intention to incorporate 
monarchical and aristocratical principles on the new government. Jefferson 
wrote to Washington to have him use hisinfluence in abolishing the "(7mcm- 
?iati " society, which he partially effected ; but the members refused to discon- 
tinue it during the lives of the members. They were the more unwilling 
to abolish the society, as Major La Infant had just returned from France 
with the eagles for the society, as well as letters of leave from the French 
King to the French soldiers in America, to accept of the order of the society. 
The monarchy-men, failing to incorporate the favorite principles of this 
secret society on the government, embarrassed the deliberations of the 
convention, called by the Middle States, so that nothing could be done. 
They wanted that the convention would break up without accomplishing 
anything — so that they would make their way from anarchy to monarchy. 
Madison seeing the designs of the monarchy-men, moved a resolution for 
calling a general convention at Philadelphia, which was adopted notwith- 
standing the strenuous opposition from the monarchy-men. The commission- 
ers recommended that the States should send delegates to the Philadelphia 
convention to amend the old articles of confederation. The convention 
met at Philadelphia, May 14, 1787, with closed doors; members were not 
allowed to communicate the proceedings of the convention to the public. 
It was found that the delegates had conflicting opinions, on the theory of 
the government itself ; local interests, and opinions arising from prejudice 
and private ambition, which pervaded the deliberations of the convention. 
The monarchy-men contended strenuously for the annihilation of the state 
governments, and for the adoption of the British constitution, with KingSy 
lords, and commons, together with its bribing policy and corruption, as the 
best model of government in the world. 

Mr. Dickinson said : 

' ' A limited monarchy he considered as one of the best governments in 
the world." — Madison Papers 148. 

Mr. Gerry said : 

"If the reasoning of Mr. Madison were just^ and we suppose a limited 
monarchy the best form in itself, we ought to recommend it, though the 
genius of the people was decidedly adverse to it." — Madison Papers, 184. 

We give Madison's opinion of the monarchy-men. "It was known that 
there were individuals who had betrayed a bias towards monarchy and there 
had always been some not unfavorable to a partition of the union into 
several confederacies, either from a better chance of figuring on a sectional 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 71 

theatre, or that the sections would require stronger governments, or by 
their hostile conflicts, lead to a monarchical consolidation." Madison 
Papers 120. 

We insert Hamilton's opinion of the British constitution. " This progress 
of the public mind led him to anticipate the time, when others as well as him- 
self would join in the praise bestowed by Mr. Neckar on the British 
Constitution — namgly, that it is the only government in the world, which 

unites public strength with individual security Their 

House of Lords is a most noble institution." . . . "The English 
model was the only good one on the subject. The hereditary interest of 
the king was so interwoven with that of the nation, and his personal emol- 
ument so great, that he was placed above the danger of being corrupted 
abroad ; and at the same time was both sufficiently independent and suffi- 
ciently controlled to answer the purpose of the institution at home." — Madi- 
son Papers, pp. 202-203. 

Hamilton further showed that he was in favor of adopting the British 
constitution, with its secret service and corruption system. He speaks 
thus: "It was known that one of the ablest politicians (Mr. Hume) had 
pronounced all that influence on the side of the crown, which went under 
the name of corruption, an essential part of the weight which maintained 
the equilibrium of the constitution." — Madison Papers 229. The second 
party proposed what was called the Jersey plan : to retain to the thirteen 
states their sovereignty, independence, and equality in full force and en- 
joyment. To have one house of congress where all the states should be 
equally represented. To amend the old Federal government so as to en- 
large the powers of congress for collecting the revenue and paying the 
debts of the states — for the protection of the states from foreign and do- 
mestic violence. To grant such powers to the Federal Government as was 
necessary for the public good. The third plan was that proposed by 
Virginia, giving to the populous states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and 
Massachussetts a preponderance in the Government over the smaller 
and less populous states — which would give to these three states thirteen 
senators out of twenty-eight, wealth and numbers to be the basis of 
representation. To form a government part Federal and part national 
— to run a line between the Jersey plan (a confederation of the states) 
and the consolidation of the states and a national government. The mon- 
archy-men finding themselves in a minority with the convention and the 
people, and finding that they could not then carry their schemes through, 
and apprehensive that they could not establish a monarchy on the basis of 
a government which derived its existence and power from the State legisla- 
tures. That while the government acted only on the states, as states, and not 
on the people as individuals, they could never consolidate the states and 
establish a monarchy. For the state legislatures would be found a check 
on any attempt to usurp power or to favor a monarchy or a military despot- 
ism! Hamilton finding chat he could not establish a monarchy, and 
wishing to defeat the Jersey plan proposed a compromise : To divide the 
United States into districts, composed of one or more states ; and to elect 
a president and senate by the people, to hold office during good behavior; 
to elect a House of Representatives for two years. To appoint the courts 
and state governments by Congress. Hamilton wanted to abolish the state 
governments and to make the power of Congress supreme. To have the 
army, navy, and state militia, under the exclusive control of the national 
government.^ To give Congress a negative on state laws. But this plan 
did not receive much support; so the monarchy-men joined the advocates 
of the Virginia plan and defeated the Jersey plan. Hamilton speaks in 
favor of electing officers for life thus : 



72 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

" Let one branch of the legislature hold their places for life, or at least 
during good behavior. Let the executive, also, be for life." — Madison 
Papers 203. Beware of a third term ! 

Madison speaks of the attempt of Hamilton to abolish the state legisla- 
tures; "One gentleman (Col. Hamilton) in his animadversions on the plan 
of New Jersey, boldly and decisively contended for an abolition of the 
state governments." — Madison Papers, 220. , 

Unfortunately for liberty, there was a large party in the convention, that 
viewed everything pertaining to government through the medium 
of the British Constitution and British laws. The monarchists imagined 
that British statesmen were the wisest of men and the British govern- 
ment the very height of human perfection. They despised the power of 
the states and the jDcople. They w^anted a strong consolidated government 
which in time would abolish the state governments and end in monarchy. 
They were in favor of a limited monarchy. They hated democracy and the 
power of the people ! The Jersey-men, at the beginning of the convention, 
were called Federalists, as they were in favor of a Federal confederation of 
the states. Those who opposed the Jersey plan were, then, called anti- 
Federalists. During the progress of the convention, as the Jersey plan was 
defeated the Virginia plan was called a Federal government, which received 
some support from the monaichy-men. The monarchy-men, the better to 
hide their ultimate views and plans, assumed the name of Federalists, and 
those in favor of state rights were called anti-Federalists. The state-rights 
men now assumed an opposition to consolidation and monarchy. The 
Federalists were in favor of putting supreme power in the national govern- 
ment and reducing the states to counties ! 

Mr. Picking offered the following resolution enlarging the powers of 
Congress: "to negative ail laws passed by the several states interfering, in 
the opinion of the legislature," for they spoke of the Congress by this name 
in the convention, " with the general interests and harmony of the Union, 
provided that two-thirds of the members of each house assent to the same." 

Mr. Rutledge said on this occasion : 

' ' If nothing else, this alone would damn, and ought to damn, the consti- 
tution. Will any state ever agree to be bound hand and foot in this manner ? 
It is worse than making mere corporations of them, whose by-laws would 
not be subject to this shackle." Madison papers 468. If the fathers 
of the constitution had lived until now, what would they think 
of the usurpation of the Congress and the Radical party ? What 
would they think of the military despotism wielded over the south ? 
What would they think of reducing states to mere military departments, to 
be governed by the whim of some military dictator, acting under the 
dictatorship of Congress! Did they dream that the whites of eleven 
states would be reduced to such an abject servitude, as to be under the 
dominion of the " Anglo African ! ! " Oh ! shades of the mighty dead ! ! 

Hamilton speaks in favor of the abolishment of the states, thus : 

"By an abolition of the states, he meant that no boundary can be drawn 
between the national and state legislature ; that the former must therefore 
have indefinite authority. If it were limited at all, the rival ship of the 
states would gradually subvert it. Even a corporation the extent of some 
of them, as Virginia, Massachusetts, &c., would be formidable. As states, 
he thought they ought to be abolished." — Madison Papers, 212. 

Again, he says: "He acknowleged himself not to think favorably of 
Republican government ; but addressed his remarks to those who did think 
favorably of it, in order to prevail on them to tone the government as 
high as possible." — Madison Papers, 244. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 73 

Gouverneur Morris said in a speech in the convention on uniting and 
consolidating the states, thus: 

"This country must be united. If persuasion does not unite it, the 
sword will." — Madison Papers, 276. Was this prophecy ? How faithfully 
the Radicals have followed in the footprints of the "blue-light Federalists." 
Indeed the present Radicals derive all their arguments from the Tories and 
Federalists. Yea, even from the Parliamentarians of England and the 
Red Republicans of France and from the theories of despotic governments 
ancient and modern ! Again, this same Gouverneur Morris speaks further 
of the abolition of the states : — 

" State attachments, and state importance, have been the bane 
of this country. We cannot annihilate, but we may perhaps take out 
the teeth of the serpent." — Madison Papers, 277. Oh, shade of 
Federalism! how perseveringly the Radicals have, since their ad- 
vent into power, worked to annihilate the state governments. Oh, 
admirable Stevens, Sumner, Butler and Wade, you have been apt disciples 
of the " Uue-light Federalist'''' — you have faithfully and religiously followed 
the political teachings of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. But 
though you did not completely succeed in establishing monarchy, you made 
a bold and vigorous attempt. Though you attempted the annihilation of 
the southern states, by your infamous re -construction bills, yet you did not 
establish monarchy; but you made vast and rapid strides! Though you 
trampled the constitution under foot, yet you did not attain your darling 
object, the establishment of the British Constitution with Kings, Lords, 
and Commons on the ruins of the Constitution of Washington ! It is true 
that though you failed to establish a monarchy, you succeeded in establish- 
ing a dictator ! ! Your power is gone ! ! The Federalists in the convention 
and through the states wanted to make wealth and education a test of quali- 
fication for citizenship and for holding ofl3.ce. 

Mr. Mason moved : "That the committee of detail be instructed to re- 
ceive a clause, requiring certain qualifications of landed property, and citi- 
zens of the United States, in members of the national legislature ; and dis- 
qualifying persons having unsettled accounts with, or being indebted to, 
the United States from being members of the national legislature." 

" Col. Mason mentioned the parliamentary qualification adopted in the 
reign of Queen Anne, which, he said, had met with universal appro- 
bation." — Madison Papers, p. 370. 

The following is from a speech of Gouverneur Morris on the qualification 
of voters. 

' ' Give the votes to people who have no property, and they will sell them 
to the rich, who will be able to buy them. We should not confine our 
attention to the present moment. The time is not distant when this country 
will abound with mechanics and manufacturers, who will receive their 
bread from their employers ? Will such men be the secure and faithful 
guardians of liberty ? Will they be the impregnable barrier against 
aristocracy ? He was as little duped by the association of the words 
'taxation and representation,' The man who does not give his vote freely, 
is not represented. It is the man who dictates the vote." — Madison Papers 
386. Madison moved to strike out the word " landed " before the word 
"qualification." "Landed possessions were no certain evidence of real 
wealth, many enjoyed them to a great extent who were more in debt than 
they were worth. The unjust laws of the states had proceeded more from 
this class of men than any others." — Madison Papers, 371. 

"The right of suffrage is certainly one of the fundamental articles of 
republican government, and ought not to be left to be regulated by the 



74 CIVIL GOVEENMENT OF THE STATES. 

legislature. The gradual abridgment of this right has been the mode in 
which aristrocacies have been built on the ruins of popular forms." — 
Madison Papers, 387. 

Mr. Pinckney said : 

"It was prudent, when such great powers were to be trusted, to connect 
the tie of property with that of representation in securing a faithful admin- 
istration. The legislature would have the fate of the nation put into their 
hands. The president would also have a very great influence on it. The 
judges would not only have important causes between citizens, but also 
where foreigners are concerned. They will even be the umpires between 
the United States and individual states, as well as between one state and 
another. Were he to fix the quantum of property which should be required, 
he should not think of less than one hundred thousand dollars for the 
president, half that sum for each of the judges, and in like proportion for 
the members of the National Legislature." — Madison Papers, 403. 

Dr. Franklin said in reply, that he ' ' expressed his dislike to everything 
that tended to debase the spirit of the common people. If honesty was 
often the companion of wealth, and if poverty was exposed to peculiar 
temptations, it was not less true that the possession of property increased 
the desire of more property. Some of the greatest rogues he was ever ac- 
quainted with were the rich rogues." — Madison Papers, 403. 

The Radicals of Massachusetts and Connecticut have followed faithfully 
the example of their Federal ancestors, by excluding al) from the ballot-box, 
who cannot read and write the English language. The radicals of Rhode 
Island have gone still further by making property a qualification for citizen- 
ship. We have many Radicals in other states who are wishing for an op- 
portunity to make education and property a qualification for citizenship in 
all the states. The Federalists wanted to exclude foreigners from partici- 
pation in the government. They wanted Americans to rule America — to 
reduce the foreigners to vile servitude — mere hewers of wood and drawers 
of water. Gouverneur Morris moved to insert fourteen instead of four 
years' citizenship, as a qualification for senators ; urging the danger of ad- 
mitting strangers into our public councils." — Madison Papers, 398. 

Butler said that he "was decidedly opposed to the admission of foreigners 
without a long residence in the country. They bring with them, 
not only attachments to other countries, but ideas of government so distinct 
from ours, that in every point of view they are dangerous." " He mentioned 
the great strictness observed in Great Britain on this subject." — Madison 
Papers, 399. 

Gouverneur Morris again said : ' ' Run over the privileges which emigrants 
would CBJoy among us, though they should be deprived of being eligible to 
the great offices of government ; observing that they exceeded the privileges 
allowed to foreigners in any part of the world ; and that as every society, 
from a great nation down to a club, had the right of declaring the condi- 
tions on which new members should be admitted, there could be no room 
for complaint. As to those philosophical gentlemen, those citizens of the 
world, as they call themselves, he owned, he did not wish to see any of 
them in our public councils. "He would not trust them. The men who 
can shake ofi" their attachment to their own country can never love any 
other." "Admit a Frenchman into your Senate, and he will study to in- 
crease the commerce of France." — Madison Papers, 400. 

Mr. Williamson said : 

"He wished this country to acquire, as fast as possible, national habits. 
Wealthy emigrants do more harm, by their luxurious example, than good 
by the money they bring with them." — Madison Papers, 411. 



COIilSTITUTIONAJi HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 75 

Mr. Madison said : 

"He wished to invite foreigners of merit and republican principles among 
us. America was indebted to emigrants for her settlement and prosperity. 
That part of America which has encouraged them most had advanced most 
rapidly in population, agriculture, and the arts." "Instances were rare of 
a foreigner being elected by the people wittin any short space after his 
coming among us. If bribery was to be practised by foreign powers, it 
would not be attempted among the electors, but among the elected, and 
among natives having full confidence of the people, not among strangers, 
who would be regarded with a jealous eye." — Madison Papers, 412. 

Franklin said: 

"We found in the course of the revolution that many strangers served us 
faithfully, and that many natives took part against their country. When 
foreigners, often looking about for some other country in which they can 
obtain more happiness, give a preference to ours, it is a proof of attachment 
which ought to excite our confidence and affection." — Madison papers 399. 
Thus, we see that the Federalists showed their hostility to foreigners. 
Native Americans and Know-Nothings have religiously followed in the foot- 
paths of the Tories and Federalists. Oh, what ingratitude to foreigners, who 
had shed their blood in the cause of American independence ! It appears that 
all parties who have opposed the democratic party, were the enemies of 
foreigners. Know-Nothing principles can be traced back to the very con- 
vention, that framed the constitution. Yea, before the bodies of those 
patriotic foreigners who died in the cause of American freedom, had molder- 
ed into clay! What ingratitude — "iVb Irish need apply.'''' This vile attempt 
of the monarchy-men to establish a monarchy, an aristocracy, or a consol- 
idation of the states, on the ruins of the states and American liberty, 
alarmed the friends of state-rights and popular government both 
in the convention and throughout the country. Some delegates left 
the convention and went home and never returned, for they 
claimed that the states had sent them to amend the Federal constitu- 
tion, and not to form a national government. That the states would 
never send delegates to the convention, if they thought that the delibera- 
tions of the convention would turn on the consolidation of the states or a 
national government. The Federalists and the friends of a strong govern- 
ment were in favor of giving congress the power to '-'-emit hills of credit,'''' to 
abolish slavery ; to incorporate banks ; to pass laws for the encouragement 
of commerce, manufactures and agriculture, they wanted to clothe the 
government with discretionary powers ! It is from this source that Federal- 
ists, Know-Nothings, Republicans and Radicals have derived their princi- 
ples, prejudices and bigotry. The state rightsmen did not want to trust the 
government with the purse and the sword, or with discretionary power 
of taxation, and with the power of raising men without any limita- 
tion. They argued that if the Federal government were invested with 
discretionary power over the resources of the states, the people would be 
ground between the upper and nether millstone; that there would be 
nothing left to support the state governments. That the Federal govern- 
ment would centralize the power of the country, which, in time, would 
annihilate the state governments ; and end in the establishment of a military 
government or a monarchy ! It appears from Madison Papers, and Elliott's de- 
bates, that the southern people were jealous of their rights, particularly, on 
the tariff and slavery questions ; that they would never have entered into a 
union, if they thought that either of these rights would be invaded ! Indeed, 
the constitution would never have been formed or adopted, only for the 
conciliatory and compromising spirit of the Fathers and Founders of the con- 



76 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

stitution and the Union. — Greeley's Amer. Conflict, vol. 1, p. 46. They yielded 
their own private and public views for the public good ! From the history 
of the country, the debates and journals of the convention, and the opinions 
of the "Fathers," we find that the Federal Union is the creature of the 
states, deriving its power and existence therefrom. That all powers not 
granted to the Federal government is reserved to the states. Immediately 
after the adoption of the constitution, the advocates of a strong government, 
the Federalists, sought by implication and inference to give the Federal 
government the very same powers they failed to ingraft on the con- 
stitution, in the convention. They claimed to give to the constitution a 
latitudinous construction, adding inference upon inference from "earth to 
heaven, like Jacob's ladder." 

We quote the following from Thomas Jefferson on the objects and plans 
of the Federalists, in construing the government into a monarchy : 

"I have stated the above, that the original objects of the Federalists were, 
1st, to warp our government more to the form and principles of monarchy, 
and, 2d, to weaken the barriers of the state government as co-ordinate 
powers. In the first they have been so completely foiled by the universal 
spirit of the nation, that they have abandoned the enterprise, shrunk from 
the odium of their appellation, taken to themselves a participation of ours, 
and under the Pseudo-Republican mask, are now aiming at the second 
object, and strengthened by unsuspecting or apostate recruits from our 
ranks, are advancing fast towards an ascendency." — Jefferson's "Works, vol. 
7, p. 293. Well, if the Federalists did not gain an ascendency, in the time 
of Jefferson, their followers, under false colors of a Republican name, used 
under false pretence to get into power, like a pirate, they hoisted the Uack 
flag of Federalism at their mast head, and by the aid of military necessity, 
they have committed the most glaring usurpations and wielded a military 
despotism which Jefferson never dreamt of. If they did not establish a 
monarchy in name they wielded a military despotism and trampled the 
constitution of the United States, and the constitutions and laws of several 
States under foot. 

Jefferson further speaks of the opinions and principles of the Fede- 
ralists : 

"Federalism, stripped as it now nearly is, of its landed and laboring 
support, is monarchism, Anglicism; and whenever our own dissensions 
shall let them in upon us, the last ray of free government closes on the 
horizon of the world." 

Oh, how prophetic of the despotism of the so-called Republican party, 
since the election of Lincoln ! for the Republican party is the faithful suc- 
cessor of the Federalist. It has made a vast and rapid stride towards 
monarchy. 

Again, Jefferson says : 

"Among that section of our citizens called Federalists, there are shades of 
opinion. Distinguished between the leaders and the people who compose 
it, the leaders consider the English Constitution as a model of perfection, 
some with a correction of its views, others, with all its corruptions and 
abuses. This last was Alexander Hamilton's opinion." — Jefferson's Works, 
vol. 6, p. 95. 

"This government they wished to have established here, and only 
complied and held part, at first, to the present constitution, as 
a stepping-stone to the final establishment of the final model. This 
party has therefore always clung to England as their prototype, and great 
auxiliary in promoting and effecting this change." — Jefferson's Works, 
vol. 6, p. 95. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 77 

How faithfully the Kadicals have followed the teachings of Alex. Hamil- 
ton and the "blue-light Federalists," since their advent into power. Had 
the people followed them in their mad career, they would have established 
a monarchy on the ruins of the constitution and free government. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The new constitution went into operation, on March 4th 1789, with Wash- 
ington as President. He formed his cabinet of Federalists and Democrats; 
Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of 
the Treasury. The democratic party and Thomas Jefferson, as their leader^ 
contended for a strict construction of the constitution. They held that 
the exercise of doubtful or discretionary powers, by the executive or Con- 
gress, were not warranted by the constitution. That the general govern- 
ment should exercise only such powers as were given by the letter of 
the constitution, or such as were absolutely necesssary for carrying those 
powers into force — that the assumption of doubtful powers were null and void 
— a palpable usurpation of power, destructive of popular liberty ; the rights 
of the states and the liberty of the people. Those were the principles of 
the democratic party then, and are its principles now. If the demociatic 
party should ever abandon its principles, then will end the hopes of popu- 
lar government, not only on this continent, but all over the world! 
Hamilton formed his political and financial system, so as to control 
Congress, consolidate the states and form a monarchy! "His financial 
system had two objects: 1st as a puzzle, to exclude popular under- 
standing and inquiry, 2d as a machine for the corruption of the 
legislature ; for he avowed the opinion, that man could be govern- 
ed by one of two motives only, force and interest. Force, he observed, 
in this country was out of the question, and interest, therefore of 
the members must be laid hold of, to keep the legislature in unison 
with the executive." — Jefferson's Works vol. 9, p. 91. How faith- 
fully the Congress and the Radical state legislatures have yielded to the 
motives of interest — the lobby-men could tell — the various rings in the 
United States could reveal it. The great overgrown monopolies could tell 
of your wholesale venality. Hamilton used the funding system as a means 
to corrupt the Congress and to bring to his aid the vile speculators and 
the '■ Stock-jobbing'' her d^ who made vast fortunes by Hamilton's scheme of 
finance. Such has been the policy of the Radicals tmoards the bondholders of 
our time! For Federalists and Radicals are, in principle, identically the 
same ! The Eastern States made threats of seceding from the Congress and of 
dissolving the union, if Congress did not assume the state debts, — Thus, 
New England was the first to raise the standard of secession, if the Federal 
government refused to assume the debts of the states. As a compromise the 
Federal government assumed twenty millions of the state debts ; on receiv- 
ing this bonus New England remained in the union ! ! The next step of the 
monocrats was to establish a money power, or United States Ban\ as a per- 
manent institution for centralization and corruption ; as a stepping-stone to 
Monarchy y The bank was located at Philadelphia, the then Capital, which 
made Congress a sink-hole of venality, bribery, and corruption. Members 
of both houses of Congress were directors of the bank, who together with 
speculators and friends of the bank and Stock-jobbers gave Hamilton a 



78 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

majority. This violent and corrupt course of Hamilton caused an 
opposition to the administration. The following is from Jefferson, 
the leader of the opposition : 

"Here then were the real grounds of opposition, which was made to the 
course of the administration — its object was to preserve the legislature pure 
and independent of the executive, to restrain the administration to republi- 
can forms and principles, not permit the constitution to be construed into a 
monarchy, and to be warped in practice, into all the principles and pollutions 
of their favorite English model. Nor was this an opposition to General 
Washington. He was true to the Republican charge confided to him, and 
has solemnly and repeatedly protested to me, in our conversations, that 
he would lose the last drop of his blood in the support of it; and he did 
this the oftener and with the more earnestness, because he knew my 
suspicions of Hamilton's designs against it, and wished to quiet them. 
For Hamilton's great argument in favor of a national bank was that it was 
necessary for the public credit and to prosecute the Indian wars. 

Jefferson opposed the national bank and gave a written opinion of its 
unconstitutionality. Hamilton and his party were for copying everything 
from England — government, banks, paper money, and corruption. They 
showed great favor to England and hostility to France, the former ally of 
America. This was gratitude with a vengeance ! 

During the X. Y. Z. Congress, the Federalists were in favor of making 
war on France, so as to aid England. "The government was well apprised 
of the predominancy of the British interest in the United States; that they 
considered Colonel Hamilton, Mr. King, ]Mr. William Smith of South 
Carolina as the main support of that interest : that particularly, they con- 
sidered Colonel Hamilton, and not Mr. Hammond, as their efiective minis- 
ter here ; that if the anti-federal interest (that was his term), at the head 
of which they considered Mr. Jefferson to be, should prevail, these gentlemen 
had secured an asylum to themselves in England." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 
9, p. 145. 

"The Federalists wished for everything which would approach our new 
government to a monarchy." Jefferson's Works vol. 9, p. 480. 

Jefferson gives the following account of the origin of parties, thus: "We 
broke into two parties ; each wishing to give the government a different 
direction ; the one to strengthen the most popular branch, the other the 
more permanent branches and to extend their permanency." Jefferson's 
Work's vol. 6, pp. 143-4. 

Jefferson further speaks of the usurpation of the Federal party, thus : 

"Giving a little to-day and a little to-morrow; advancing its noiseless 
steps like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction until all shall be usurped 
from the states, and the government of all be consolidated into one. To 
this I am opposed; because, when all government, domestic and foreign, 
in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of 
all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government 
on the other, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from 
which we separated." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 7, p. 216. Hamilton said 
that the general government must swallow up the state governments. — 
Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. 1, p. 82. 

Well, how faithfully the Republicans have carried out this programme 
of their prototypes, the Federalists, for since their advent into power they 
have been more corrupt and venal than any government in the world, ancient 
or modern. They have stolen into power under false colors. They have 
centralized all power in the authorities at Washington ; trampled on the con- 
stitution of the United States and the Constitutions of several states. They 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 79 

have incarcerated all who claim constitutional law, whenever they felt so 
disposed. 

John Adams, a federalist, succeeded Washington, as President of the 
United States and his party were in favor of monarchy, as appears from the 
following authorities : 

"In 1793," said Cobot, a Federalist, "things will never go right, till 
you have a President for life, and an hereditary senate. " — Jefferson's Works, 
vol. 9, p. 184. 

In 1797, Adams said: "Damn 'em, damn 'em, damn 'em! You see that 
an elective government will not do. "Republicanism must be discarded." 
Hamilton said, "for my part I avow myself a monarchist. I have no 
objection to a trial being made of this thing of a Republic." — Jefferson's 
Works, vol. 9, p. 187. 

"Oh!" said Hamilton, "say the Federal monarchy. Let us call things 
by their right names, for a monarchy it is." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 9, p. 
191. 

"Hamilton declared openly, that there was no stability, no security in 
any kind of government but a monarchy. — Jefferson's Works, vol. 9, p. 126. 

We give Adams' opinion on the British constitution, thus : 

"After the cloth was removed, and our questions agreed and this 
dismissed, conversation began on other matters, and by some circumstance, 
was led to the British constitution, on which Mr. Adams observed : Purge 
that constitution of its corruption, and give to its popular branch equality 
of representation, and it would be the most perfect constitution ever devised 
by the wit of man. Hamilton paused and said: "Purge it of its 
corruption, and give to its popular branches equality of representation, and 
it would become an impracticable government ; as it stands at present, with 
all its supposed defects, it is the most perfect government which ever 
existed. And this was assuredly the exact line which separated the political 
creeds of these two gentlemen. The one was for two hereditary branches 
and an honest elective one; the other for an hereditary King, with a 
House of Lords and Commons corrupted to his will, and standing between 
him and the people." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 9, p. 96. 

Again, we find that John Adams and his party were enemies of the 
Union, and anticipated its dissolution. On a petition being presented to 
John Adams, while President of the United States, for a donation, for a 
College, in Tennessee, he said; " He saw no possibility of continuing the 
union of the states, that their dissolution must necessarily take place : that 
he therefore saw no propriety in recommending to New England men to 
promote a literary institution in the south ; that it was in fact giving 
strength to those who were to be their enemies; and, therefore, he would 
have nothing to do with it." Jefferson's Works vol. 9, pp. 203, 204. Good- 
hue, a Federalist, said in 1798: "I'll tell you what, I have made up my 
mind on the subject; I would rather the old ship should go down 
than not" (meaning the union of the States). — Jefferson's Works, vol. 9, 
p. 189. 

Hamilton treated the people with disdain, for he said himself: "And it 
is long since I have learned to hold the popular opinion of no value." — 
Hamilton's Works, vol. 5, p. 52. 

John Adams' opinion of the British Constitution : 

"I only contended that the English Constitution is, in theory, both for 
the adjustment of the balance and the prevention of its vibrations, the most 
stupendous fabric of human invention ; and that Americans ought to be 
applauded instead of censured, for imitating it as far as they have done. 
Not the formation of languages, not the whole art of navigation and ship- 



80 CIVIL GOVEBNMENT OF THE STATES. 

building does more lionor to the human understanding than this system of 
government. — Adams' Works vol. 4, pp. 358-9. 

" For, instead of the trite saying, no bishop, no king, it would be much 
more exact and important truth to say, no people, no Eang, and no King, 
no people." — Adams' Works, vol. 4, p. 371. 

This shows that Adams and Hamilton and their party were only waiting 
for an opportunity to abolish the Constitution and Union and to establish a 
monarchy. If they did not succeed, Butler, Stevens, Sumner, Stanton, 
Wade disregarded the Constitution of the United States and established 
a military despotism! ! 

Again, Adams says of the British Constitution : 

"We shall have reason to exult, if we make our comparison with England 
and the English Constitution." — Adams' Works, vol. 4, p. 383. 

Again, Adams says: " A Republican government is little better than a 
government of devils." — Adams' Works, vol. 2, p. 469. 

' ' This is the true reason, why all civilized free nations have found, by 
experience, the necessity of separating from the body of the people, and 
even from the legislature, the distribution of honors, and conferring it on 
the executive authority of the government. When the emulation of all the 
citizens looks up to one point, like the rays of a circle from all points of the 
circumference, meeting and uniting in the centre, you may hope for uni- 
formity, consistency and subordination ; but when they look up to different 
individuals, or assemblies, or councils, you may expect all the deformity, 
eccentricities, and confusion of the Polemic system." — Adams' Works vol. 
6, p. 256. 

Again, he makes a comparison between the nobles and the people: " But 
on the other hand, the nobles have been essential parties in the preservation 
of liberty. The people pretended to nothing but to be villains, vassals, and 
retainers to the Kings or the nobles." — Adams' Works vol. 6, pp. 417-8. In 
the time of John Adams the Federalists attempted to make democracy un- 
popular in America, by holding them responsible for the acts of the Red 
Republicans of France. The democracy sympathized with France, and 
held that the people were able to govern themselves, that all just and good 
governments reflect the will of the people. 

Jefferson's views on the power of the people are most forcibly expressed 
in the following words: 

"Governments are Republican only in proportion as they embody the 
will of the people, and execute it." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 7, p. 9. 

He also held that free government would last so long as the people re- 
mained virtuous. That great monopolies and the concentration of wealth 
and power in a few were dangerous to the safety and stability of a republic. 

Jefferson speaks of moneyed monopolies, thus : 

"Raising up a moneyed aristocracy in our own country, which has 
already set the government at defiance." — Jefferson's Works vol. 7, p. 64. 
The democrats held that the government should be built in the affections of 
the people. That each branch of the government should be confined within 
the pale of the Constitution. Jefferson speaks of the evil of the Federal 
government usurping the powers and rights of the states, thus : 

"Can any good be effected by taking from the states the moral rule of 
their citizens, and subordinating it to the general authority, or to one of 
their corporations, which may justify forcing the meaning of words, hunt- 
ing after possible construction, and hanging inference on inference from 
heaven to earth like Jacob's ladder ? Such an intention was impossible, and 
such a licentiousness of construction and inference, if exercised by both 
governments, as may be done with equal right, would equally authorize both 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 81 

to claim all power, general and particular, and break up the foundations of 
the Union." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 7, pp. 297-8. Jefferson held that 
state-rights were a necessary check on the general government. 

"I believe the states can best govern our home concerns, and the general 
government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore, to see maintained that 
wholesome distribution of powers established by the constitution for the 
limitation of both, and never to see all offices transferred to Washington, 
where further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly 
be bought and sold at market." — Jefferson's Works vol. 7, pp. 297-8. 

Jefferson further held that equal encouragement should be given to agri- 
culture, commerce, and manufacture. That doubtful and discretionary 
power should not be exercised by Congress or the executive. That the 
constitution should be strictly construed. That the Federal government 
should not usurp the rights of the states. — I see, as you do, and with the 
deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the Federal branch of our 
government is advancing towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved 
to the states, and the consolidation in itself of all powers foreign and 
domestic: and that too by construction, which if legitimate, leaves no limit 
to their power." — Jefferson's Works vol. 7, p. 426. 

Again Jefferson says : 

' ' Yet although I have little hope that the torrent of consolidation can be 
withstood,! should not be for giving up the ship without effort to save her." 
— Jefferson's Works vol, 7, p. 430. The Federalists held that Congress pos- 
sessed discretionary powers. They claimed a latitudinous construction for 
the constitution. After the French revolution, in 1789, French refugees 
came over to the United States and naturally joined the democratic party; 
whose principles rested on the theory that '■'-man is a man'''' — That man 
should be governed by reason and the Jaws of nature. That the people are 
capable of self-government. That the toiling millions should not be taxed 
to feed the pampered few. That the condition of the people should be im- 
proved. That labor should be respected and rewarded. That all offices of 
trust and honor and emolument should be open to the people. Equality for 
all branches of industry: no fostering monopolies for any ! Jefferson speaks 
of a government of reason thus: "It is our sacred duty to suppress passions 
among ourselves, and not to blast the coniidence we have inspired of the 
proof that a government of reason is better than one of force." — Jefferson's 
Works vol. 7, p. 183. 

The Federal party and John Adams were very jealous of foreigners, 
and passed a law extending the time of naturalization to fourteen years. 
They passed laws to muzzle the press and to suppress the freedom of speech: 
to prevent native American democrats from denouncing the tyranny and 
extravagance of the Federal administration ; they passed the sedition law to 
silence the native democrats and to banish foreigners, who may not support 
the policy of the administration! The Federal party had the President, 
John Adams, the supreme court, and both houses of Congress. After the 
Irish rebellion of 1798, a number of Irish patriots (rebels so called) came 
over to the United States, who joined the democratic party and opposed the 
Federalists, who were friends of England and monarchy ! The Federalists 
were the enemies of all foreigners, but particularly the Irish — indeed, they 
showed the same hostility to foreigners, that their disciples, the Native 
American party and Kadicals display to-day! The darling policy of the 
Federalists was to exclude the Irish and French from participation in the 
government; just as we find the same exclusive policy practised by the 
Native Americans, Know-Nothings, Wide-a-wakes, and Union Leaguers of 
our time— to exclude foreigners from office. The alien law was passed, in 



83 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

1798, which gave John Adams power to compel all foreigners to depart 
out of the territory of the United States, all such aliens as he should judge 
dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States. The sedition law 
inflicted a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and imprisonment not 
exceeding two years, for writing, publishing, and printing any false, scan- 
dalous, or malicious writing, or writings against the government of the 
United States, or either house of Congress of the United States, with or 
without intent to defame the said government or either house of said 
Congress, or the President, or to bring them, or either of them into con- 
tempt or disrepute ; or to excite against them, or either or any of them the 
hatred of the good people of the United States. The following will 
show the violent opposition of the Federalists to foreigners, especially 
towards Irishmen during the time the Federalists were in power, which is 
practised by their disciples, the Radicals at the present day. King, the 
Federal minister to England wrote home, thus: 

' ' In Ireland, though for some months there will be partial and unimpor- 
tant risings, the force of the insurrection is broken, and the danger nearly 
over. The chiefs have been without much character and without intellect." 
— Hamilton's Works vol. 6, pp. 308-9. "In Ireland the rebellion is sus- 
pended, and our government will, I hope, have the power and inclination to 
exclude those disaffected characters, who will be suffered to seek an asylum 
among us." — Hamilton's Works vol. 6, p. 315. 

" You will see that I have prevented the sending to you of about fifty 
Irish State prisoners, who were at the head of the rebellion in Ireland, and 
closely connected with the Directory at Paris. Probably our patriots will 
think my conduct presumptive. In the present posture of affairs, I could 
have no hesitation ! " — Hamilton's Works. I ask, in all sincerity, is it to be 
wondered that the Irish should vote the democratic ticket ? 

The above quotations from the works of Hamilton, should satisfy any 
reasonable man. The Irish are democrats in self-defence, as well as from 
principle ! 

We give further evidence of the intention of the Federalists to subvert 
the constitution and to establish on its ruins their model government the 
British Constitution. The following is from John Adams: 

" That as to trusting to a popular assembly for the preservation of our 
liberties, it was the merest chimera imaginable ; they never had any rule 
of decision, but their own will." — Jefferson's Works vol. 9, p. 190. 

Dexter, a Federalist, said: 

"'I suppose you would prefer an election by districts.' 'Yes,' "said 
Nicholas," I think it would be best, but would nevertheless agree to any 
other consistent with the constitution.' "Dexter said he did not know what 
might be the opinion of his state, but his own was, that no mode of elec- 
tion would Answer any good purpose; that he should prefer one for life." 
Beware of a third term. — Jefferson's Works vol. 9, p. 196. 

"The St. Andrew's Club of New York, (all Scotch tories) gave a public 
dinner lately. Among other guests, Alexander Hamilton was one. After 
dinner, the first toast was the President of the United States. It was drunk 
without any particular opposition. The next was, ' George the Third.' Hamil- 
ton started upon his fpet, and insisted on a bumper and three cheers. The 
whole company accordingly rose and gave three cheers." — Jefferson's 
Works vol. 9, p. 197. 

In consequence of those hateful and odious principles of the Federalists^ 
as well as the enactment of the alien and sedition laws, and the tyranny 
and oppression of the Federalists in both Houses of Congress, the democra- 
tic members in both Houses of Congress resigned, and went home, except- 



COXSTITUTIOl^AL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 83 

ing Thomas Jefferson, who remained in the senate, as Vice-President, 
and Gallatin in the House, (the speaker) Madison and other demo- 
crats, who left Congress, got elected to their State legislatures. As 
a check on the usurpation of the Federalists, the Democrats passed 
the celebrated Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798. They 
denounced the alien and sedition laws as unconstitutional, and as 
a violation of the rights of the States and the citizens of the States. 
Massachusetts, then at the head of the Federal party, through her legisla- 
ture, pronounced, "the alien and sedition laws, not only constitutional, but 
expedient and necessary." That the constitution did not make the legisla- 
ture the judges of the acts or measures of the general government. The 
alien and sedition laws became so obnoxious to the people that the Federal 
party became odious and was defeated. This paved the way for the election 
of Thomas Jefferson, the father of democracy, as President of the United 
States. Such was the popular indignation of the American people towards 
the Federalists that Jefferson was succeeded by two patriotic democrats, 
Madison and Monroe. The Federalists became rebels and traitors to the Con- 
stitution, the Union, and liberty! They were the mere instruments of 
the English government. They would bear all manner of insults from the 
British government so long as they made money by English commerce. 
During Jefferson's administration Louisiana was purchased by treaty from 
France. Jefferson was an honest man and an extreme stickler for the Consti- 
tution. — Greeley's American Conflict, vol. 1, p. 84. 

During the war of 1813, the Federal party aided England and threatened 
to secede from the Union and to divide the states. The New England 
clergy of the Federal school were violent supporters of England and the 
most hostile enemies of the administration and the Union. The Blue-light 
Federalists of New England not only opposed the war with England, but 
resisted the President in calling out the militia to resist a foreign and in- 
vading foe. The Federalists were the friends of England, and the Demo- 
crats the friends of France. — Greeley's American Conflict, vol. 1, p. 55. 
The Federalists of Connecticut passed the following resolution : 

" Kesolved, that the conduct of his excellency, the governor, in refusing 
to order the militia of this state, on the requisition of the secretary of war 
and Major-general Dearborn, must meet with the entire approbation of this 
assembly." President Madison informed Congress, in his message in 1812, 
that the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut had refused to furnish 
their quota of militia. They not only opposed the United States govern- 
ment until the end of the war, but also refused the government the use of 
the jails to confine prisoners of war. "The city Council of Hartford de- 
termined to put what obstacles in the way of it (recruiting,) they legally might, 
enacted a local ordinance forbidding the marching and parading of troops, 
the beating of drums and displaying of flags, in fine, the opening of any 
recruiting station, except within certain limits excluding the most populous 
parts of the towns." Hildreth's History of the United States vol. 3, page 46. 
On the 13th of Oct. 1814, the legislature of Massachusetts called for a con- 
vention of the New England states, alleging for a reason for this treasonable 
design against the government, at a moment when the country was at war with 
the most formidable enemy in the world, that ^HJie constitution of the United 
States^ under the administration of those now in power ^ had failed to secure to 
Massachusetts and New England generally, those equal rights and benefits, the 
great olject of its promotion, and which could not le relinquished without ruin.^' 
This shows that the supposed grievances of the New England Federalists 
were that they did not get hold of the power and patronage of the 
Federal government, the almighty dollar! The legislature of Connecticut 



84 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

denounce-d the President's war measures, as unconstitutional, intolerable, 
barbarous, and oppressive. The infamous, odious, and treasonable Hart- 
ford convention proposed the following amendments to the constitution: 

1st. "To provide that slaves should not be counted as a basis of repre- 
sentation; but that free negroes should be counted." 

2d. "That no state should be admitted into the Union without the con- 
currence of two-thirds of both houses of Congress." 

3d. "That Congress should not have power to lay any embargo on 
the ships of citizens, for more than sixty days." 

4th. "That Congress should not have power to prohibit intercourse 
between the United States and any foreign nation." 

5th, "Kequiring a two-third vote of Congress to declare war, except for 
defence, in case of actual invasion." 

6th. "That no foreigner thereafter naturalized should hold any civil 
office under the United States." 

7th. "That the same person should not be elected President a second 
time — or two successive Presidents be taken from the same state." 

The following resolution was also passed: "The power of compelling 
the militia and other citizens of the United States, by forcible draft or 
conscription, to serve in the regular armies as proposed in the late official 
letter from the secretary of war, is not delegated to Congress by the con- 
stitution, and the exercise of it could be not less dangerous to the liberties 
than hostile to the sovereignty of the states." 

A town meeting of the -citizens of Boston assembled to oppose the en- 
forcement of the embargo acts, and passed the following resolution : 

''^Resolved — Not voluntary to a.ssist in carrying into execution the embargo 
act ; and that all who should do so ought to be consider.ed as enemies of 
the State of Massachusetts, and hostile to the liberties of the people." 

This nullification ordinance was vetoed by the democratic Governor of 
Massachusetts. Thus: nullification, treason, meditated secession, final 
separation and the dissolution of the Union were fostered in New England ! 
New England Federalists proclaimed the doctrine of secession during the 
war of 1812. Greeley says that Josiah Quincy was the first secessionist — that 
he made a secession speech at Boston, 1811. — Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. 
1. p. 86. 

John Quincy Adams, twenty years afterward said in writing : 

This object was, and had been for several years, a dissolution of the 
Union. He knew (he said) from incontrovertible evidence, though not 
provable in a court of law, that in the case of civil war the aid of Great 
Britain to effect the purpose would be as surely resorted to, as it would be 
indispensably necessary to the design. . . That if force should be resorted 
to by the government to quell that resistance (the resistance organizing in 
Massachusetts) it would produce a civil war, and in that event he had no 
doubt that the leader of the party would receive the co-operation of Great 
Britain." 

Massachusetts, in 1809, resolved, that "on such occasions, passive obe- 
dience," (to the laws of Congress) "would on the part of the people, be a 
breach of their allegiance, and, on our part, treachery and perjury." 

The following is an address of the Federalists on this occasion : 

' ' Choose, then, fellow citizens, between the condition of citizens of free 
states, possessing its equal weight and influence in the national government 
or that of a colony, free in name but, in fact, enslaved by sister states," 
The legislature of Massachusetts further resolved, that the war originated 
and was to be ascribed to the influence of worthless foreigners over the 
press and the cabinet, and Congress." — " Such was the true reason of the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 85 

war. The freedom of commerce and the rights of seamen, was a pretence." 
Massachusetts, not satisfied with resisting the lawful requisition of the 
President for troops ; nullifying the laws of Congress ; bidding defiance to 
the o-overnment, by armed resistance ; the raising of state funds and troops 
to intimidate the government; claiming it as a matter of conscience to 
oppose the government of the United States, passed a law denying the use 
of her prisons to the Federal government to confine British prisoners of war, 
or deserters from the American army, and to compel, by law, jailers to dis- 
charge all British oflacers, as prisoners of war, held by the United States 
authority in custody ! And all of this diabolical treason was preached by 
the ' higher law dergy ' and politicians of New England, who held that re- 
sistance to the general government was loyalty to God. 

" The victory of New Orleans, and the peace of Qhent., broke the power 
of the Federal party, and brought both the name and party into odium, 
which compelled them to change their party name. They claimed that 
the action of the convention was justifiable." Jefferson, in a letter to 
General La Fayette, Feb. 14, 1815, speaks of the Hartford convention: 

"Their fear of Republican France being now done away, they are 
directing to Republican America, and they are playing the same game for 
disorganization here which they played in your country. The Murats, the 
Dantons, and the Robespierres of Massachusetts are in the same pay, under 
the same orders and making the same efforts to anarchize us, that their 
prototypes in France did there." 

In a letter to General Dearborn, March, 17, 1815, Jefferson said: 

" Oh, Massachusetts! how I have lamented the degradation of your apos- 
tasy ! Massachusetts, with whom I went with pride, in 1776, whose vote 
was my vote on every public question, and whose principles were then the 
standard of whatever was free and fearless. But then she was under the 
control of the two Adams, while Strong, her present leader, was promoting 
petitions for submission to British usurpation." 

The Federalists and Whigs during the administrations of Monroe and 
John Quincy Adams, divided the country between the advocates of a strict 
and literal interpretation of the constitution and the strict adherence to funda- 
mental principles and state rights on the one hand ; and those who advo- 
cated the creation of local monopolies by Congress; the investing of 
Congress with supreme powers; the creation of a national bank; the 
improvements of rivers and harbors by the Federal government, and a high 
protective tariff. The democrats advocated the former, and the Federalists 
and Whigs the latter. 



CHAPTER X. 

In the Congress of 1820-21, the country was alarmed on the slavery ques- 
tion in Congress, which ended in what is called the Missouri compromise, 
prohibiting slavery north of 36 deg. 30 min. "During the Missouri struggle 
both Jefferson and Madison gave their influence with the south." Yet 
Greeley, at page 39-40 of his American Conflict, claims Jefferson as Anti- 
slavery. How conflicting? But Greeley's logic was not of the best. — Gree- 
ley's American Conflict vol. 1, p, 75. 

During the sessions of 1820-24, commenced the debates on the tariff, 
which led to South Carolina nullification — lohich threatened the Union, 
in 1832. The first tariff act was passed in 1789, for the sole 



86 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

purpose of raising a revenue for the support of the government; so 
as not to resort to a direct tax — it was not intended as a protec- 
tion to manufactures, but simply as an incident to revenue. Clay 
was the great champion of the tariff, in 1824. He was opposed by 
Webster, who said in his great speech: " Society is full of excitement. 
Competition comes in place of monopoly, and intelligence and industry 
ask only for fair play and an open field." But, when New England became a 
manufacturing country, Webster changed his mind, and became an advo- 
cate for a high tariff. — Greeley's Am. Confl., vol. 1, pp. 90-91. John 
Quincy Adams, in his inaugural, recommended internal improvements by 
the Federal government and a high protective tariff. This was the 
dividing line between Adams and the Democrats, for the Democrats held 
that the Constitution did not give the Federal government power to spend 
money for internal improvements — the improvement of rivers and harbors. 
That a tariff for any other object than as an incident to its revenue was unau- 
thorized by the Constitution. In 1828, Adams recommended a high pro- 
tective tariff which was opposed by the Democrats, as unconstitutional, 
sectional, and unjust, and as being oppressive to the rights and interest of 
the agricultural portion of the country. This protective tariff scheme 
originated with the Federalists, in 1816. For after their defeat on the 
odious Alien and sedition laws, as well as their defeat after the Hartford 
Convention, they attempted to make a high protective tariff a ladder to cliinb 
into power. — Hence protection to manufactures became the main plank in 
the Whig platforms. But the Morrill tariff bill, in 1861, capped the 
climax, and so offended European powers, who, in consequence, 
threatened to recognize the Southern Confederacy. Jackson assailed 
the United States bank — declared it unconstitutional, and opposed 
its re-chartering. The friends and advocates of monopoly, with 
Clay at their head, in Congress and in the state legislatures, assailed 
the President both from the nostrum, the stump, and through the press. 
The session of Congress of 1831-32, is famous in our political history for 
the great party conflict for the rechartering of the United States banks. The 
first charter was obtained by Hamilton, in 1791. The second charter was 
granted in 1816. The charter of 1816 was opposed by President Madison, 
who said : ' ' That the genius of the British Monarchy favored the concen- 
tration of wealth and power ; in America, the genius of the government re- 
quired the diffusion of wealth and power." The act for the rechartering of 
the bank passed both Houses of Congress, for the friends of the bank had a 
majority in the Congress of 1832, but was vetoed by the President. On the 
appearance of the veto Message, the President was demanded by labored 
speeches, by Webster Clay and other friends of the bank, among whom 
were many apostate democrats (the Stantons and Butlers of the time,) who 
voted for the bank for a consideration. 

Thus Jackson had to fight the Whigs and the combined money- 
ed power of the country together with the hired i^t'ess! The bank 
and the moneyed power of the country brought on a financial crisis, which 
crippled all branches of industry, for the sole purpose of having something 
to charge the President with — for they claimed that the President's veto 
caused the "hard times." Distress meetings were held all over the country 
to defeat Jackson's re-election ! But though the ItanTc and other monopolies 
expended large suras of money in the Presidential Campaign, Jackson was 
triumphantly elected over Clay. A bill was passed, which provided for the 
removal of the deposits from the United States bank, and for depositing 
them in local banks. The friends of the Mnlc concentrated their power by 
contracting credit — deranging the currency, to ruin merchants and farmers; 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 87 

to create a money panic, and to compel the President to replace the de- 
posits in the United States bank. Meetings were called all over the 
country and Jackson was denounced in the most violent terms, as the 
author of the " distress of the country." This brought about the general 
money panic of 1834. 

A bill was passed for the equalization of gold and silver, and for making 
gold and silver of foreign coin a legal tender. This caused gold and silver, 
which paper had banished to foreign countries, to flow back in the usual 
course of commerce and customs. This caused manufacture, agriculture, 
and commerce to prosper, and with this general prosperity came the down- 
fall of the bank. Thus, did the sagacity, patriotism, and firmness of Jack- 
son and the democratic party save the Union from the power, oppression 
and dominion of a "moneyed king." In 1832, the Whigs, with Clay 
at their head, introduced their favorite system of a '- ^ high protective tariff.'''' 
Jackson, in his message, recommended the abolition of duties on articles 
of comfort and necessity. Clay threatened a dissolution of the Union, if 
his favorite bill for a '■'-high tariff'''' was not passed. Calhoun and his 
friends threatened a dissolution of the Union on the passage of a '''■high 
protective tariff.'''' 

South Carolina, grieved by the passage of this high traiff bill, on the 24th 
of Nov. 1832, issued her nullification ordinance declaring the tariff of 1828 
and 1832, unconstitutional, null and void, and declaring it unlawful to 
"enforce the payment of duties imposed by the said act within the limits of 
this state.'''' That if the general government attempted to collect said duties 
they would proceed to organize a separate government and "do all other 
acts and things which sovereign and independent states may of right do." 
Calhoun resigned the Vice-Presidency and was chosen United States Senator. 
Jackson issued his famous proclamation against nullification ; and sent a mess- 
age to Congress recommending a reduction of the tariff as a compromise. 
This^ shows that Jackson, as well as the Democratic party, always 
considered a tariff as a mere incident to revenue and not for the 
fostering of monopolies. Clay offered a compromise on the tariff, and in 
a speech, Feb. 12, 1833, he said: "I behold a torch about being applied 
to a favorite edifice, and I should save it if possible, before it was wrapt in 
flames,' or at least preserve the precious furniture which it contains." 
Calhoun accepted Clay's tariff compromise and gave it his support; 
thus, compromise saved the Union then. Oh, that we had Jackson as 
President in 1861, he could have averted a civil war ! On the heads of the 
Kadicals, rests their part of that awful responsibility. "The democrats 
have, on all occasions, tried to quiet the prejudices and fears of the people 
by compromise. They have adhered to the constitution and constitutional 
laws, justice and equal political rights. They have always endeavored to 
prevent a conflict between the Jurisdiction of the states and the Federal 
Government, by moderation and conciliatory measures. Their mottoes 
have been liberty, equality and fraternity. They have respected the rights 
of the citizens of the Union without respect to Geographical lines— No 
North, no South, no East, no West. Our government rests on three mas- 
sive columns, liberty, equality and fraternity. Destroy any one of them; 
and then we may cry, alas for civil glory ! " 

Mr. Van Buren in his inaugural, March 4th, 1837, indicated that the 
policy of his administration would be a strict adherence to the principles of 
Thomas Jefferson— a compliance with the expressed provisions of the con- 
stitution.^ That the administration should give the constittitiou a strict 
construction— a strict economy in the administration of the government. 
The democrats held that it was dangerous for Cono-ress to interfere with 



88 CIVIL GOYEENMENT OF THE STATES. 

Slavery, but to leave that question with the states that were interested. 
That Congress had no power to abolish slavery in the district of Columbia, 
or in the territories ; or to interfere with it in the states. The abolitionists 
held that the government has been built on anti-slavery principles. The 
national bank failed to pay and tried to have the President sanction its re- 
charter. Vermont, in 1837-8, sent a memorial to Congress against the 
annexation of Texas, for the Whigs of the Nortli were now becoming 
abolitionized. They had assumed a sectional aspect. They did not 
want Texas as they knew she would become a democratic state 
and would increase the power of the South in the Councils of the nation. 
For they preferred their party to the glory and prosperity of the nation. 
This movement of the abolitionists of Vermont was followed by petitions 
from the North praying for the abolition of slavery, in the territories and in 
the District of Columbia; and against the annexation of Texas, as they 
knew she would be a Slave State. The whigs and abolitionists were opposed 
to the acquisition of Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Greeley's Am. Conf. 
vol. 1, pp. 149 to 178 inclusive. This agitation of the abolitionists grew 
from year to year until it ended in blood, in 1861. For notwithstanding 
what the Radical writers may say, the slavery agitation in Congress created 
a sectional party which kept on increasing in power until the election of 
Lincoln on a sectional platform which led to secession and rebellion!! This 
will be the verdict of posterity. Had the American people wisely followed 
the admonition of Washington in his farewell address, and avoided a sec- 
tional party, there would be no rebellion. The democratic party frequently 
appealed to the abolitionists to keep the slavery agitation out of the halls 
of Congress. On this occasion Clay offered the following resolution: 
"That the interference by Citizens of any of the States, with the view 
to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia is endangering the 
rio-hts and security of the people of the district ; and any act or measure 
of° the Congress designed to abolish slavery in the district, would be a 
violation of the faith implied in the cessions by the states of Virginia and 
Maryland — a just cause of alarm to the people of the slaveholding states — 
and have a direct and inevitable tendency to disturb and endanger the 
Union." — Benton. 

This resolution passed, yeas 340, nays 8. Second resolution : 
^^ Resolved — That every attempt of the Congress to abolish slavery in the 
territories, in which it exists would create serious alarm and just apprehen- 
sion in the states that sustain that domestic institution, and would be a vio- 
lation of good faith towards the inhabitants of every such territory, who 
have been permitted to settle with, and hold, slaves therein ; and because, 
when any such territory shall be admitted into the Union as a state, the 
people thereof shall be entitled to decide that question exclusively for them- 
selves." The vote stood yeas 36, nays 8.— Benton. 

This was the doctrine' of Statesmen, during Van Buren's administra- 
tion to let the people of the territories decide for themselves on the ques- 
tion of slavery. This agitation was carried to the House, which claimed the 
southern members. The slavery agitation in Congress now became per- 
manent, and entered into the debates of Congress, gradually widening the 
gulf between the North and South, until it finally culminated in blood — 
until it brought on the most terrific rebellion known in the annals of the 
world! We^give a brief sketch of emancipation in the North. All of the 
Colonies held slaves, except Massachusetts, before the revolution. The 
Puritans held Indian and Negro slaves. But slavery was not profitable 
in New Eno-land — slaves were kept as a mark of family distinction and 
aristocracyr— Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. i, pp. 30, 35, 36. Massachusetts 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 89 

claimed that the constitution of 1780 abolished slavery. Pennsylvania 
passed gradual emancipation in 1780; Vermont abolished slavery in 1777 ; 
New Hampshire 1783 ; Rhode Island 1784 ; Connecticut 1784 ; New York 
1799, and New Jersey 1804. 

A bill was introduced in Congress to graduate the price of the public 
lands and passed the senate, but was lost in the House. , The Whigs moved 
to amend the bill confining its provisions to citizens of the United States, 
only which amendment was opposed by the democracy! Let foreign- 
ers never forget that were it not for the democrats this bill would have 
passed which would have excluded thousands of foreigners from the public 
lands who would be compelled to purchase lands from speculators. 

After a violent struggle between the administration of Van Buren and 
the Whigs the government revenue was divorced from the bank ; and the gov- 
ernment funds placed in the custody of the government officers ! This mea- 
sure is known as the Subtreasury Act. In 1839, the banks failed and creat- 
ed another money panic, as a means of defeating the democracy and electing 
a whig President who would favor a rechartering of the United States 
Bank. In the campaign of 1840, the Whigs dropped Clay and nominated 
General Harrison, who was elected with the promises of ^'^ roast beef and two 
dollars a day^''"' the corruption of the money power, ^'' Coon-skins^'' '•'hard-cider,'''' 
and log cabins^ In 1839, the abolitionists held a convention at Warsaw, 
New York, November 13. The convention nominated James G-. Birney, of 
New York, for President, and Francis J. Lemoyne, of Pennsylvania for Vice- 
President. They received a total vote of 7,609. Thus, the abolitionists 
could poll but this paltry vote, 1840. Yet, in 1860, after twenty years, they 
were able to elect Abraham Lincoln on an anti-slavery platform! In 
1853, on the political suicide of the whig party, the abolitionists fused with 
the Whigs, Native Americans and apostate democrats and raised the stan- 
dard of anti-slavery. In the halls of Congress, in the state legislatures, 
through the press and from the pulpit and the Stump, private and public 
gatherings, nothing was heard from this fusion party but denunciation of 
slavery, until it finally succeeded in electing Lincoln as its standard-bearer, 
who in a speech, in 1858, said that the country could not exist half free 
and half slave. That the country could not rest secure until slavery should 
be ultimately abolished in the states. Greeley says the first abolition so- 
ciety was formed in Penn. 1774 ; New York Manumission society, 1785 : 
that of Rhode Island 1786 ; Maryland 1789 ; Virginia 1791 ; and New Jersey 
1792. — Greeley's American Conflict vol. 1, p. 107. The American Coloniza- 
tion society was established 1816. The society and colonization were 
opposed and condemned by the abolitionists — Greeley, Garrison, and Wen- 
dell Phillips. — Greeley vol. 1, p. 73. The first abolition convention was 
held in Philadelphia, 1824. — Greeley, p. 113. William Lloyd Garrison and 
other abolitionists had for their motto, " Our country is the world — our 
countrymen all mankind" — "No union with slaveholders" — The Consti- 
tution is a covenant with death and an agreement with helL" — Greeley's 
American Conflict vol. 1, p. 116. The Garrisonians were stanch supporters 
of women's rights. In 1776, the Quakers were opposed to slavery. — Ihid 118. 
The apostates of the old abolition school were "infidels." — Greeley vol. 1, 
p. 121. But the modern Abolitionists were professed churchmen. — Ihid. The 
mails, in 1835, were loaded with abolition documents. Such was the feel- 
ing against abolitionists, in 1835, Garrison was led through the streets of 
Boston with a rope around his body. — Ibid. 127. England liberated her 
West Indian slaves to embarrass the south and finally to bring about a dis- 
solution of the Union, lavished her gold on English and American aboli- 
tionists to attain her ends. For this purpose she sent over, in 1833, one 



90 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

George Thompson an eminent English Abolitionist to promote abolitionism 
in this country and finally a dissolution of the Union. After Harrison's 
election, he called an extra session of Congress ; but died before it met. 
The duties of the office of President devolved on John Tyler, the Vice- 
President. 
' On the meetings of Congress, Clay submitted the following resolution : 

Resolved — As the opinion of the Senate, that at the present session of 
Congress no business ought to be transacted, but such as being of an im- 
portant or urgent nature, may be supposed to have influenced the 
extraordinary convention of Congress, and such as that the postponement 
of it might be materially detrimental to the public interest." 

The Whigs passed a bill, entitled A bill for incorporating a United 
States bank, which was vetoed by the President, John Tyler, who was once 
a democrat but went over to the Whigs. The President was now denounced 
by Clay, in the senate, who charged him with bad faith towards the Whigs. 
A second bill passed and was vetoed by the president. Such was the 
violence and mortification of the Whigs and the friends of the bank 
that they hissed the veto message in the galleries of the senate. 
This was only eclipsed by the Radicals hissing in the galleries of 
the senate on the impeachment trial of President Johnson because he 
was acquitted ! ! 

Such was the chagrin and disappointment of the Whigs, that immedi- 
ately after the second veto, the cabinet who were Whigs, resigned, with the 
exception of Webster, the Secretary of State; who exclaimed "where shall 
I go ?■' The President was denounced by the Whigs. A final separation 
took place between the President and the Whigs about the close of this 
session of Congress. The United States bank after a vigorous struggle 
with the democratic party expired and became an '•'- obsolete idea;'''' until 
the Federalists, under the guise of a Republican party name got into 
power in 1860, and as soon as they found the country disturbed by a 
stupendous rebellion, they established, not only a United States bank, but 
banks, until now, their name is legion ! An attempt to annex Texas during 
Tyler's administration failed. The annexation of Texas was made an 
important issue in the election of James K. Polk. John Quincy Adams and 
others said, in 1843, that an annexation of Texas would justify a dissolu- 
tion of the Union. — Greeley, vol. 1, p. 160. Clay was opposed to the annexa- 
tion of Texas without the consent of Mexico. — Ibid.l^i. Greeley and the 
abolitionists opposed the annexation of Texas — Ibid. 168-9. The abolition- 
ists renewed the agitation of slavery in Congress. On 12 August 1846, Mr. 
Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, ofi"ered his famous proviso, as a condition of the 
annexation of Texas. 

" That no part of the territory tobe acquired should be open to the institution 
of slavery. This proviso formed the nucleus for the Free soil party., in 1848, 
and for the fusion party in 1853-4. This sectional party had but one idea 
— Hostility to slavery, the abolition of slavery, no more slave states. The 
democrats held that congress had '•''no power to legislate upion slavery in the 
territories.'''' 

This doctrine of " inon-ntervention^''^ got the name of squatter sovereignty 
from John C. Calhoun, in 1848, for the extremists north and south were 
opposed to non-intervention. The abolitionists claimed that Congress had 
the right of excluding slavery in the territories, while the Calhoun party 
claimed that Congress had power to protect slavery in the territories, the 
same as other property, while the friends of non-intervention held that the 
people of the territories were the best judges whether they wanted slavery 
or not, so that Congress should have the whole subject of slavery with the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 91 

people of the territories who could vote slavery up or down. Texas was 
annexed to the Union during Polk's administration, which led to the 
Mexican war. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Democratic party met in convention, at Baltimore, in 1848. Two 
Kets of delegates presented themselves from the State of New York, one set 
in favor of the nomination of General Cass; the other of Martin Van Buren. 
The convention rejected both, leaving the great State of New York unrepre- 
sented which had voted for a democratic President, since the organization 
of the party by Thomas Jefferson. General Cass was the regular nominee 
of the democratic party. The disappointed Van Buren party met at Utica, 
and afterwards at Buffalo and nominated Martin Van Buren for President. 
The Buffalo platform consisted of one idea — hostility to slavery— the negro 
hobby for politicians to ride into power. It held that it was the duty of 
the Federal government to abolish slavery, whenever it could be done, under 
the constitution, that in the states wherein slavery existed, the people thereof 
had the exclusive right to interfere with it. That Congress alone had the 
right and power to abolish slavery in the territories. This ^'■free soil or Barn- 
'burners'''' opposed General Cass and though Van Buren did not carry a single 
state, yet, by this division they defeated Cass and elected General Taylor, 
the Whig candidate. The popular vote of 1848 : Taylor and Fillmore 1,360,752 ; 
Cass and Butler 1,219,962 ; Van Buren and Adams 291,342. Thus we see that 
the Van Buren split defeated the democratic party in 1848, (75.193.) The 
party catchwords of the/ree soil party were ^'■free speech,'^'' '■'■free labor ^^'' '"'■free 
soiV^ and ^'free men; ^^ which were afterwards taken up by the so-called 
Republican party. Seward, in 1848, held that slavery (speech at Cleveland, 
Ohio, Oct. 26, 1848) was the great living issue which divided the national 
parties, (i5. 199-200). Henceforth the Whig party became abolitionists. 
The slavery question threatened a dissolution of the Union in 1850. The 
cry of disunion resounded from one end of the country to the other. 
The conservative Whigs and democrats of the North, forgetting their mutual 
political differences, saved the Union by compromise and conciliation ! 
The compromise measures were denounced by the abolitionists of the North 
and by the extreme agitators of the South. The abolitionists were dis- 
satisfied on account of the fugitive slave law, and the extremists of the 
South because the Missouri compromise line was not extended to the 
Pacific ocean. Jefferson Davis said that he would take nothing less than 
the Missouri line to the Pacific. — Ibid. 204-5. Clay in a speech said: 

If the citizens of the territories choose to establish slavery, and if they 
come here with a constitution establishing slavery, I am for admitting them 
with such proviso in their constitution ; but then it will be their own work, 
and not ours, and posterity will have to reproach them and not us, for 
forming constitutions allowing the institution of slavery to exist among 
them; and I care not how extensively or universally they are known." 
Clay said, ' ' That the great principle, which lies at the foundation of all 
free governments is, that the majority must govern ; from which there is 
or can be no appeal but tlie sword.— Clay's Speeches vol. 2, p. 47. Had 
the policy of Clay been adhered to, the Union could never be disturbed. 
Had the slavery agitation been excluded from the halls of Congress we 
would not have had ^ the recent war — we would not have sacrificed thou- 
sands of lives — leaving thousands of destitute widows and orphans — we 



92 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

would not have created a mountain of debt — we would not have to groan 
under eternal taxation ! The compromise measures met with the universal 
approbation of the union - loving people north and south, and restored 
peace and harmony all over the country. The people thought that the 
slavery question was finally banished from the halls of Congress forever. 
But this confidence of the people was soon disturbed. For the abolitionists 
at the North, who opposed the compromise measures in and out of Con- 
gress, while under debate, now, through their partisan press, assailed the 
Fugitive Slave law. Societies were organized, at the north, to nullify the 
Fugitive slave law, state legislatures passed personal I'iherty dills to prevent the 
execution of the fugitive slave law. Mobs at the north broke prisons and 
rescued fugitive slaves from the Federal authorities. But the great masses 
of the people north and south were satisfied with these compromise measures 
except the extremists. Senators Mason, Hunter, Butler, Barnwell, Pierre 
Saule, Jefferson Davis, Atchison, Morton, and Youlee offered a protest to the 
admission of California and to the passage of the compromise measures, which 
they signed and requested to have it spread on the journal ; whichwas refused. 
Thus,tlie compromise measures were opposed by the abolitionists of the north 
and by the Calhoun school of southern politicians. The southern members 
opposed to the compromise measures, met at Nashville, in convention, and 
passed resolutions against the comprom^ise measures ; only the two states of 
South Carolina and Mississippi were represented. The compromise mea- 
sures were approved by both whigs and democrats, in the Presiden- 
tial Campaign of 1852, and the country became pacified on the 
slavery question, as was then supposed, forever! The Federal party, 
resurrected, under the name of abolitionists, was now only waiting 
for any opportunity to spring the slavery question in the halls of 
Congress, as a ladder to climb into power. For as the Federalists 
or Whigs were defeated on the bank question and high tariff, their only 
hope of getting into power was on the slavery question. Indeed some of 
the leaders of the so-called Republican party, John P. Hale, S. P. Chase, 
and William H. Seward voted, in 1850, for a dissolution of the Union! The 
Federalists, now the abolitionists, assumed a violent opposition to the 
fugitive slave law — mobs in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and 
Wisconsin broke jails and rescued fugitive slaves from the custody of the 
Federal authorities — and denounced the democrats, as ^'^ Slave Catchers.''^ 
States nullified the act of Congress and the Constitution of the United 
States by opposing the fugitive slave law by force. Clay said, "that the 
white man must govern the black man, or the black must govern the white." 
Clay's Speeches voL 2, p. 367. 

At the session of Congress of 1854, the Federal party again sprung the 
slavery question in Congress. It is true that they did not call themselves 
Federalists as that name had become odious. They found it necessary to 
come under an assumed name; but still they were the advocates of Federal 
principles. " Whence cometh Smyth, albe he Knight or Squire, But from 
the smith that smiteth at the fire." 

We find the Radicals possessing the ear marlcs of Federalism ! We quote 
the following from Jefferson, which is as applicable to Republicans as it 
was to the Federalists. 

"The Hartford Convention, the victory of Orleans, the peace of Ghent, 
prostrated the name of Federalism. Its votaries abandoned it through 
shame and mortification; and called themselves Republicans. But the 
name alone is changed, the principles are the same. On the eclipse of 
Federalism with us, although not its extension, its leaders got up the 
Missouri question, under the false front of lessening the measure of slavery, 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 93 

but with the real view of producing geographical* divisions of parties which 
might insure them the next President." — Jefferson's Works vol. 7, pp. 325-6. 
This is a fair picture of the so-called Republicans. Their aim was to secure 
the next President, in 1860 and when once in power, then to establish 
Federal principles at the cannon's mouth and the point of the bayonet. On 
the 23d May, 1854, the Missouri compromise was repealed and the Kansas 
and Nebraska bill passed. This was what the Federalists, or abolitionists 
desired, as it gave them an opportunity to form a sectional party opposed 
to the institution of slavery everywhere. This broke up old party lines. 
The Nortli.ern Whigs, with a few exceptions, abandoned the Southern Whigs 
and joined the abolitionists (Federalists,) to form a neic party, called at 
first the "Anti-Nebraska party." They used this name to get apostate 
democratic politicians to join them. Many democrats who were opposed 
to the repeal of the Missouri compromise left the democratic party 
and joined the anti-Nebraska party. The democrats joined this new 
sectional party in hopes of riding into office on the slavery 
question, and on the troubled waters of excitement and popular 
change. Strange to say those apostate democrats still claimed to be 
democrats ; asserting that the old Democrats had abandoned their old 
landmarks and had sold themselves to the Southern oligarchy. So intense 
was the indignation of the abolitionists, that they burned Senator 
Douglas in effigy. He was denounced by an abolition mob on his way 
from Washington to Chicago. At Chicago he was threatened with violence 
by the mob, at a public meeting ; where he attempted to explain his posi- 
tion and the nature of the Kansas and Nebraska bill. Party excitement 
grew intense ; the Republican party held that Congress had power to abol- 
ish slavery in the territories by virtue of the ordinance of 1787, and article 
4, section 3, part 2 of the constitution of the United States. This perver- 
sion of the constitution led to the election of Lincoln and brought on the 
rebellion in 1861. For the people would never interfere with slavery in 
the territories were they not persuaded that the constitution gave them 
that right; for before the election of Lincoln the people held the constitu- 
tion in great reverence and no party dared to advocate an unconstitutional act 
or measure. Clay said, that "the free states have no more right to interfere 
with institutions in the slave states, confined to the exclusive jurisdiction 
of those states, than they would have to interfere with institutions existing 
in any foreign country." — Clay's Speeches vol. 2, p. 336. 

Such was the indignation raised by this new-fangled fusion party 
against the Nebraska bill, that it was the favorite theme of New 
England preachers from their pulpits. Assaults on the slave power 
were poured forth from the stump, the pulpit and through the press. 
Many New England ministers of the gospel ceased to preach " Christ and he 
crucified " — but devoted their Sunday services and sermons to the denuncia- 
tion of democrats, the slave power and the Nebraska bill. They excluded 
the gospel from their churches and turned political stump speakers. — 
By such means the democrats were defeated this year, only thirteen demo- 
crats were elected to the House from the North^ and even four of them were 
from Missouri. The opponents of the Kansas and Nebraska bill appealed to 
the passions of the people of the North, through the press, the pulpit, and 
public meetings to contribute money, clothing and Sharp's rlfies, and to aid 
in sending emigrants to Kansas to prevent Kansas from becoming a Slave 
State ; and to commence a war between the North and South, —which in 
due time would give them an opportunity to abolish slavery everywhere. 
For this purpose emigrant aid societies were immediately organized in New 
England, New York and other Northern States,, which furnished money^ 



94 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

clothing, and 87iar2:)''s rifles to emigrants, who were sent to Kansas to defeat 
the Kansas and Nebraska act. Plymouth church, Brooklyn (H. W. Beecher's) 
raised a subscription to supply families going to Kansas with a dible and a 
rifle.— Men of the Times by Harriet Beecher Stowe, p. 555. Those emigrants 
marched through Chicago, on their way to Kansas, with streaming banners, 
with emblazoned mottoes, denouncing Douglas, the Kansas bill and the 
democratic party. They marched through Missouri with their banners, 
causing great excitement ; which provoked a counter opposition on the part 
of Missourians. This armed emigration caused civil war in Kansas, which 
was what the Eepublicans wanted. The cry of ^'■'bleeding Kansas " resound- 
ed from the soil of Kansas, to the halls of Congress and the State legislatures, 
as well as from the pulpits, the stump, and through the press. The name 
of "border ruffians" was given to all democrats North, South, East and 
West. The Republicans charged the Democrats with trying to force Kansas 
into the Union as a slave State. This falsehood reiterated daily through 
the press, from the pulpits, and by public meetings, alienated thousands 
from the old democratic party who were led bound hand and foot into the 
"Republican" camp. Thousands thought that the old time honored demo- 
cratic party was annihilated forever. That it had shared the fate of the 
Whig party!! Another enemy to democracy made its appearance. This 
was the Know-Nothing party, which was only a revival of the Native 
American party. It was a revival of the Federal party of the alien and 
sedition laws notoriety. Their platform was hostility to Catholic foreign- 
ers. This party carried the election in New England, Maryland, and 
California, in 1854. In 1855, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, 
elected Know-Nothing governors and a large part of the state legislatures. 
California elected a Know-Nothing governor and a majority of the legislature. 
Thus, the democratic party had to fight both the Republicans and the 
Know-Nothings. In 1856, the Know-Nothings ran ex-President Fillmore for 
President on the Know-Nothing platform. The Republicans ran John C. 
Fremont, as a sectional candidate for the Presidency. The platform of 
the Republican party was the dbolition of slavery in the District of 
Colwiibia ; the repeal of the fugitive slave law; opposition to the acquisition of 
any more slave territory; opposition to the admission of any more slave states 
into the Union. In 1856, the Republicans hoisted on their banner only 
sixteen states, to show that they wanted to sever the Union. Both the 
Republicans and Know-Nothings took their candidates from the Free 
states to show their anti-slavery feelings. They said that they would not 
hold faith with slaveholders. That they would either abolish slavery in 
the south or else let the south go. That the constitution was anti-slavery. 
That they wanted an "anti-slavery bible," an anti-slavery God and an 
anti-slavery government. In their speeches and debates they showed their 
hostility to slavery even in the states, where it then existed. Their cry was, 
down with the slave power. Both Know-Nothings and Republicans were 
defeated and James Buchanan was elected democratic President. After 
this defeat the Know-Nothings fused with the Republicans, on condition 
of getting a share of the public plunder! The democrats lost every 
northern state, except Illinois, Indiana, California, and Pennsylvania, 
and got every slave state, except Maryland, which went Know- 
Nothing. 

The Republican party was now composed of Anti-Nebraska Democrats, 
Abolitionists, /rc6 soilers^ Whigs, and Know-Nothings. This party swept 
the country like wild fire. The Know-Nothing party fell into bad odor, 
so much so, that in 1859, no one would own that he had ever been a mem- 
ber of the Know-Nothing party. Presidential vote of 1856: Buchanan, 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOKY OF UNITED STATES. 05 

Democrat, 1,838,169 ; Fremont, Rep. 1,341,264 ; Fillmore, Know- 
Nothing, 874, 534. Greeley Am. Conf. vol. 1, 284. A combination between 
Fremont and Fillmore would have defeated Buchanan. In 1857, the 
Dred Scott case came before the Supreme Court, when it was decided that a 
Negro was not a citizen of the United States. That Congress had no power 
to legislate on slavery in the territories. This opinion was denounced by 
the Republicans; the opinion was given to the public, through the Republi- 
can papers in a garbled manner. The Republicans denounced Chief Justice 
Taney as a traitor ! The Dred Scott decision formed materials for Republican 
speeches and newspaper articles in the election campaigns. Unfortunately 
for the country a rupture took place between Douglas and President 
Buchanan on what is known as the Le Compton Constitution, which was 
sprung in Congress, at the session of 1857-8. This division divided the 
democracy at a time'when the Republicans and Know-Nothings were united. 
This breach came to a crisis, in 1860. The Republicans held various and 
conflicting opinions to suit the public mind and to make votes. For they 
had no principles but to get into power, by some means fair or foul. They 
had one grand and controlling idea^ the "Irrepressible conflict," which was 
formally announced by Seward, in his famous Rochester Speech, Oct. 25, 
1858. In 1858, Lincoln said: 

" In my opinion it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached 
and passed." A house divided against itself cannot stand ! I believe the 
government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not 
expect the Union to be divided — I do not expect the house to fall — but, I 
do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all 
the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of 
it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in 
the course of ultimate extension." Lincoln's Speech, Springfield June 17, 
1858. Seward's Speech at Rochester Oct. 25, 1858, on the irrepressible 
conflict. 

This doctrine of Seward and Lincoln became the corner-stone of the Re- 
publican edifice! This doctrine alarmed the southern people when they 
saw a party coming into power with the avowed intention of finally 
abolishing slavery everywhere. The doctrine of the irrepressible conflict 
" was advocated by the Republicans from the pulpit, through the press, 
from the Halls of Congress, and the state legislatures. The ultimate aholisTi- 
ment of slavery was their favorite topic all over the North. 



CHAPTER XII. 



December 14, 1859, a resolution was adopted in the senate, inquiring 
into the cause which led to the invasion of the state of Virginia, and the 
seizure of the United States arsenal and armory by a band of armed men, 
under the lead of John Brown, as follows: "Whether the same was 
attended by armed resistance to the authorities and public force of the 
United States, and by the murder of any of the citizens of Virginia, or of 
any troops sent there to protect the public property: "Whether such in- 
vasion and seizure was made under color of any organization intended to 
subvert the government of any of the states of the Union ; what was the 
character and extent of such organization ; and whether any citizens of the 
United States not present were implicated therein, or accessary thereto, by 



96 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

contributions of money, arms, munitions, or otherwise. "What was the 
character and extent of the military equipment in the hands or under the 
control of said armed band ; and where and how and when the same was 
obtained and transported to the place so invaded. ' ' That said committee 
report whether any and what legislation may, in their opinion, be necessary 
on the part of the United States for the future preservation of the peace of 
the country, or for the safety of the public property; and that the said com- 
mittee have power to send for persons and papers." 

It appears from the evidence taken before the committee of the senate, 
that John Brown, in the winter of 1857-8, had organized a party in Kansas 
for the purpose of making war on Slavery. He organized a military school 
at Spriugdale, in Iowa. In 1858, he went to Canada and called a conven- 
tion at Chatham, and formed a provisional government as a preliminary step 
to the invasion of the Slave States. — Greeley's American Conf. vol. 1, p. 387. 

John Brown had received money, clothing, and arms from "Massachu- 
setts State Kansas Committee," and from the "National Kansas Aid Com- 
mittee, and from several persons of wealth and influence in New England. 
Pikes were manufactured for him in Connecticut and other places, and put 
into his hands to be used for anti-slavery purposes. He was present at 
several of the anti-slavery meetings, where he received pecuniary aid. It was 
wel] known that Brown would use force against the Slave States. He 
had arms sent to him to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He had them then 
removed to Harper's Ferry and concealed. They consisted of arms for 1,500 
men besides 200 Sharp's rifles, 200 revolvers, and 1,000 pikes with 
ammunition and clothing. He had supposed that if he appeared in any of 
the Slave States and put arms in the hands of the slaves that they would 
flock to his standard and inaugurate servile war, and overthrow 
the states government and establish a provisional government. With 
this object in view he, with about 18 others, on the night of 
October 16, 1859, entered the village of Harper's Ferry and took posses- 
sion of the United States arsenal and armory. He made a futile attempt 
to arouse the Negroes and incite them to insurrection and confined 
many of the citizens in the Engine-house of the armory. He was captured 
by Colonel Robert E. Lee, who commanded the United States marines ; but 
not until the engine-house was taken by storm. In this encounter between 
the John Brown party and the United States troops 14 were either killed 
or wounded. This, indeed, was the beginning of the war, for it so alarmed 
the southern people that they were sure that the object of the Republicans, 
if they should get into power, was to free the slaves. The following from 
the writings of Jefferson will show that the people of the South had for a 
number of years a dread of a servile insurrection. "What does the Holy 
alliance in and out of Congress mean to do with us on the Missouri ques- 
tion ? And this, by the by, is but the name of the case, that it is only the 
John Doe or Richard Roe of the ejectment, the real question, Are slaves to be 
presented with freedom and a dagger ? For if Congress has power to regu- 
late the condition of the inhabitants of the states, within the states it will be 
but another exercise of that power, to declare that all shall be free. Are we 
thento see again Athenian andLacedemonian Confederacies ? To wage another 
Peloponnesian war to settle the ascendency between them, or is this the 
tocsin of merely a servile war ? That remains to be seen ; but not, I hope, 
by you or me. Surely, they will parley a while, and give us time to get 
out of the way. What a bedlamite is man! " — Jefferson'sWorks vol. 7, p. 200. 

We see what an alarm the slavery question had raised then — it had kept 
on increasing until John Brown's raid had alarmed the southern people and 
filled their minds with the dread of a servile war. John Biown was aided 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOKY OF UNITED STATES. 97 

at the north, with money, clothing, and arms ; and many of the influential 
parties, at the north, approved of the John Brown raid. George L. Stearns, 
Chairman of the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee, said under oath 
before the senate Committee that he ' ' believed John Brown to be the repre- 
sentative man of this century, as Washington was of the last. The Harper's 
Ferry affair, and the capacity shown by the Italians for self-government the 
great events of this age. One will free Europe, and the other America." 
Brown's execution called forth from the Republicans, a stream of vile abuse 
on the slave power. Songs were sang to the tune of John Brown's ''Soul 
marching on " through the ethereal realms of space. Greeley said : Let no 
one doubt that history will accord an honorable niche to old John Brown." 
Youth's History of the War, p. 62. In 1860, Lincoln was nominated by the 
Republicans. He ran on the Chicago platform. The Chicago Republican 
convention met May 11, 1860. This was purely an anti-slavery convention, 
for David Wilmot was temporary President — and Giddings of Ohio was a 
leading spirit. Greeley, vol. 1, pp. 319-321. The Democrats split in 
fragments and nominated two candidates. — It will now be admitted by the 
impartial reader that if the people had elected Douglas we would not have 
been cursed with a civil war. If the principles of popular sovereignty had 
been adopted w^e would not have been plunged into the most cruel, stupen- 
dous and devastating rebellion known in history ! ! Lincoln was not elected 
by the popular vote but by the constitution — for he lacked 930,170 of a 
popular majority. If Douglas, Breckinridge and Bell men fused they could 
)iave elected Douglas and defeated Lincoln. Greeley, Am. Confl. vol. l,p.328. 
Had the people of the North followed Washington's Councils and had they 
not established a sectional party, arraying one section of the country against 
the other we would not have been plunged into the vortex of revolution ; we 
would not have to pass through a reign of terror; we would not have a 
mountain of debt on our backs — we would not be ground to powder by 
eternal taxation — our substance would not be taken to feed a legion of 
United States tax-gatherers ! ! And the bread would not be taken from the 
j^mouth of labor to feed a few pampered bondholders, and the industry of 
the country would not be taken to support monopolies. The Republicans 
can never exculpate themselves from their responsibility in fomenting the 
rebellion.. Greeley, Seward, Phillips, Garrison, Wade, Wilson, Chandler 
and the other leaders of the Republican party are as responsible for the 
rebellion and its consequences as the Fire-eaters of the South. Seward, in 
1853, formed a sectional party on the principles of hostility to slavery and 
its ultimate extinction in all the states. He then laid the mine which explod- 
ed in rebellion. For the extremists North and South, Republicans and 
Fire-Eaters had mutually fed and fostered one another. The speeches of 
the Northern fanatics were published and circulated South to "fire the 
Southern heart," and the speeches of the Fire-Eaters were published in 
Northern newspapers to increase Northern hostility to the "slave power," 
Greeley showed some consistency in '■''dailing Jeff Davis ^^ for their uintnal 
teachings helped to plunge the country into war. 

That the fathers of the Constitution were abolitionists— speeches were 
made to show that Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Henry, and 
Clay, were anti-slavery men.— Globe 1859-60, pp. 1028-1854-5. 

Seward said in his Rochester speech, Oct. 25th, 1858: 

"So resistance to slavery and devotion to freedom, the popular element 
now actively working for the Republican party among the people must and 
will be the resources for its ever renewing strength and constant invigora- 
tion." — Globe, 1859-60, p. 154. This manifesto from Seward, who w^as 
considered the leading spirit of the Republican party, together with the 



98 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

speeches of Phillips — the onslaught of the Republican press — the numerous 
anti-slavery tracts of the Sabbatti schools, the Helper book had created a 
reign of terror at the south — the dread of servile war — the Republican orators 
"played on a harp of a thousand strings " — in some places they claimed to be 
Democrats — that the Democracy committed political heresy in 1854. — 
Globe, 1859-60, p. 1027. They claimed that the Republican party now 
held the principles of the fathers. During the session of Congress for 1859- 
60, a great deal of time was taken up with the slavery question, John 
Brown speeches — Seward's irrepressible conflict — the Dred Scott case— and 
slavery in the territories. This session was wasted in making political 
Capital. Seward said in his place in Congress, in 1858: 

"Free labor has at last apprehended its rights, its interests, its power, 
and its destiny, and is organizing itself to assume the government of the 
Republic. It will henceforth meet you boldly and resolutely here ; it will 
meet you everywhere, in the Territories or out of them, wherever you may 
go to extend slavery. It has driven you back in California and in Kansas ; it 
will invade your soil." In Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, and 
Texas. It will meet you in Arizona, in Central America, and even in Cuba. 
The invasion will be not merely harmless, but beneficent, if you yield 
seasonably to its just and moderate demands." — Globe 1859-60. p. 37. 

Geddings had said: 

"I look forward to a day when I shall see a servile insurrection in the 
South — when the black men, supplied with bayonets, shall wage a war of 
extermination against the whites — when the master shall see his dwelling 
in flames and his hearth polluted ; and though I may not mock at their 
calamity, and laugh when their fear cometh, yet I shall hail it as the dawn 
of political millennium." — Youth's History of the War, p. 60. 

This was, indeed, a declaration of war. This shows that the object of 
the war was the annihilation of slavery. 

This struggle finally came to a crisis on the defeat of Douglas and the 
election of Lincoln. Had not the abolitionists made the abolition of 
slavery an issue the Fire-Eaters of the south could never have succeeded in 
their secession plans — for the great masses of the people were religiously at- 
tached to the Union — nothing but the alarm of a servile war, fomented by 
abolition speakers and writers, could induce the people of the south to 
revolt ! ! Southern Statesmen, in their speeches, said that they were afraid 
of the growing strength and power of the abolitionists. The Fire-Eaters 
quoted the speeches of the abolitionists to show the growing sentiment and 
hostility of the anti-slavery party. — The Republicans rejoiced in the success 
of the Fire-Eaters, in the southern elections. The Fire-Eaters threatened to 
secede on the election of Lincoln ; which threat was met with derision and 
defiance by the Republicans. 

The Republicans told the people of the North that the southern threat 
was mere gasconade — mere idle threats of intimidation. That after elec- 
tion the southern mind would become calm, and the political excitement 
would subside : that the cry of dissolution, having been used so often, was 
nothing but a mere electioneering trick. It is certain that the Radical 
Republicans hoped that the South would plunge the country into rebellion, 
so that," having the power of the government in their hands — the purse 
and the sword — they could, in the turmoil of war, abolish slavery in the 
South, and establish the equality of races. The Federalist wing of the 
Republican party prayed for war, so that they could abolish the state 
governments, and establish a consolidated government, and, finally, a mili- 
tary despotism, as a stepping-stone to monarchy, and their darling idol 
the British Constitution ! 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 99 

In vain did the Douglas democrats appeal to the people warning them of 
the imminent danger of the country. In vain did they warn them of the 
fearful calamity of civil war. The people, led by blind and fanatical zeal 
were led captive into the abolition camp. They committed themselves to 
the guidance of blind leaders; they voted against Douglas; they left 
the old democratic party, and followed the lead of the Republicans, who 
were Federalists under false colors ; whose ambition was to plunge the coun- 
try into war; their motto was rule or ruin!! The Republicans said that if 
the southern people should lea^e the Union, they would, like the prodigal 
son, be glad to come back. That the north could whip them back in sixty 
days. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



After the election of Lincoln, December 20, 1860, South Carolina passed 
an ordinance of secession. On the 26th of December Major Anderson 
evacuated Fort Moultrie, spiking his guns, and occupied Fort Sumter. , The 
withdrawal of South Carolina from the Union was treated by northern 
Republican papers with derision. They said that at the approach of the 
first regiment in Charleston harbor secession cockades would be found as 
scarce as cherries in the snow. But the New York Tribune said encourag- 
ingly, "let the prodigal go," for the leading Republican papers and politi- 
cians wished for war so that they could wipe out slavery and establish a 
reign of terror and govern their enemies by military forces ! ! Yet in a few 
months afterwards the Tribune said, that the southern cities should be laid 
in ashes and their soil sown with blood. That the "rebels" returning 
home w^ould find their wives and children cowering in rags, and famine 
sitting at their fireside. — Tribune Nov. 26 and December 17, 1860. 

The same paper said. May 1, 1861: "The whole coast of the South 
from the Delaware to the Rio Grande, must be a solitude." — Again, i't 
said: "When a portion of this Union, large enough to form an independent 
self-sustaining nation shall see fit to say authoritatively to the residue, we 
want to go away from you, we shall say — and we trust with self-respect, if 
not regard for principles of self-government, will restrain the residue of the 
American people to say go ! " 

In the interim between the secession of South Carolina and the meeting of 
Congress, in December, 1860, the democratic party hoped that some com- 
promise would be effected which would avert the impending danger and 
effusion of fraternal blood! 

Greeley said that the Chicago platform was worth nine Unions — the 
Federalists never did lo7e the constitution; they denounced it as a league 
with hell andcovenant with death. They had often denounced Washington — 
they poured out the vials of their wrath and intensified indignation on the 
fathers of the constitution for not establishing the British monarchy with its 
corruption and vile despotism. They preached from time to time ' ' to let the 
Union slide." They wanted to plunge the country into civil war, so that 
they could march from military despotism to their favorite goal, a monarchy 
after the model of the British constitution." During the war the Radicals 
could write or speak against the Union and constitution without danger or 
molestation from the authorities at Washington. But woe to the unfor- 
tunate democrat who had the temerity to find fault with the blind policy 
of the administration. The most intense excitement peivaded the public 



100 CIVIL GOYERNMEiSTT- OF THE STATES. 

mind, north and south — various and conflicting opinions were entertained 
as to the policy which Lincoln would pursue, on assuming the control of 
the government. 

The Kew York Herald and other papers called on the President elect to 
quiet the public mind by disclosing, in plain, candid, and manly terms the 
policy and course he would pursue, in regard to the threatened secession 
of the southern states, when the reins of government came into his hands. 
But he (who was under the control of the abolitionists), said that it was 
time enough when he got into power. That it w^ould do no good to dis- 
close his policy. He adhered to this determination to the hour of his 
death — when hard set he could ward off all such inquiries by a timely old 
joke. 

Had he told the people that he would not interfere with slavery, it would 
have calmed the over-excited minds of the Southern people; and the leaders 
of secession would be unable to incite a rebellion. For the people of the 
South loved and cherished the Union and nothing could have induced them 
to secede but their fears of a servile insurrection. Lincoln did not want to 
sacrifice the Chicago platform. Had he followed the example of Washing- 
ton, in the Pennsylvania Whiskey rebellion, or of Jackson in the 
South Carolina nullification difiSculty, we would not have been plunged 
into a fratricidal war, we would not have sacrificed thousands of 
precious lives to the God of battles— we would not have erected a monu- 
ment of bonds to perpetuate the reign of Radical tyranny — we would not have 
to groan under a mountain of taxation — we would not have desecrated 
the temples of Religion — we would not have suppressed the freedom 
of speech and of the press, in the name of liberty — we would not have 
seen the constitution trampled under foot, in the name of law and order — 
we would not have seen sovereign states reduced to territories, the ballot-box 
discarded and loyalty pronounced by the lips of treason. The Halls of 
Congress wou^ld not have been polluted by the most infamous venality, 
corruption, and bribery unparalleled in the annals of history! Those who 
wish to contrast the honesty of the democratic party with the Republican 
party should ponder on the Evidence of Horace Greeley in his charge 
against Democrats for annexing Texas and for paying that state ten millions 
of dollars as a consideration for the relinquishing of her claim to certain 
territories. 

' ' By this article, the public debt of Texas, previously worth in market 
but twenty to thirty per cent, of its face was suddenly raised nearly or quite 
to par, to the entire satisfaction of its holders — many of them members of 
Congress, or their very intimate friends. Corruption, thinly disguised, haunt- 
ed the purlieus and stalked through the halls of the Capitol ; and numbers, 
hitherto in needy circumstances, suddenly found themselves rich. The great 
majority, of course, were impervious to such influences ; but the controlling 
and controllable minority were not. This was probably the first instance 
in which measures of vital consequence to the country were carried or 
defeated in Congress under the direct spur of pecuniary interest. — Ibid. 
208-9. See what Benton says : This charge is wanton and not supported 
by authority. But even taking it as true, it proves that Congress was free 
from all pecuniary corruption until the advent of the Republican party into 
power; for this is the only charge of corruption made by Greeley against the 
democratic party to this time. Lincoln knew that there would be war even 
before he got into office, notwithstanding his '•'• nobody hurt.'''' For he knew 
that Frank Blair had organized, in secret regiments of Wide-Av/akes, in 
St. Louis. That he had organized in St. Louis a Committee of safety. 
That Blair had intended to hold St. Louis if Missouri left the Union. — 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 101 

Life of Seymour and Blair pp. 328-9, 331-335-6. Blair called on Lincoln 
at his home in Springfield and told him the above facts. — Ibid. 

All of the slave states, except South Carolina, were represented in the 
session of Congress of 1860-61. The leading Southerns wanted to save the 
Union by such a compromise, as would exclude the slavery question from 
the halls of Congress. Those who passed the Missouri compromise and the 
compromise of 1850, wished to exclude the agitation of slavery from the 
Halls of Congress. But neither Lincoln nor the Republicans would yield 
the Chicago platform, as it would virtually be recognizing slavery. They 
boldly announced that the days of compromise were gone. For they well 
knew that if they abandoned the Chicago platform it would annihilate their 
party. This they would not do, for their ultra leaders were imbibed with 
Federal principles and beheld the long wished for opportunity to lay violent 
hands on the constitution, which stood in their way on their forward march 
towards centralization of. power, the annihilation of the states, and the 
establishment of monarchy! Moreover the Republicans, composed of the 
fag-end of all parties, held together by the cohesive power of corruption 
and public plunder, who saw glittering before their visions the long 
coveted booty, the spoils of the victor, feared that if they made terms 
with the '^ slave power'''' their abolition allies would secede from the repub- 
lican camp, and join the democrats. For many abolitionists frankly told 
the Republicans that if they should yield to the "slave power," they, 
(the abolitionists,) would join the democrats and crush the Republicans. 
Lincoln and his party feared, that if they would compromise with the South 
and abandon the Chicago platform the democrats would again get into 
power. So they sacrificed their country to save their party. For rather 
than compromise they would " Ze^ the Union slide.'''' The New York Tribune 
said on November 26, 1860 : 

"If the cotton states unitedly and earnestly wished to withdraw peace- 
fully from the Union, we think they should and would be allowed to do so. 
Any attempt to compel them by force to remain would be contrary to the 
principles enunciated in the immortal Declaration of Independence — con- 
trary to the fundamental ideas on which human liberty is based." 

From the Tribune of December 17, 1860: 

"If it (the Declaration of Independence) justified the secession from the 
British Empire of three millions of colonists in 1776, we do not see why 
it would not j-ustify the secession of five millions of southerners from the 
Union in 1861." The same paper again said, February 23, 1861 : 

" Whenever it shall be clear that the great body of the southern people 
have become conclusively alienated from the Union, and anxious to escape 
from it WE will do our best to forward their views. The New 
York Tribune in an article two days after Lincoln's election was for letting 
the South go. Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. 1, p. 358. Thus, we find the 
leading Republican papers of the North encouraging secession! 

The southern members in Congress said that if the " Arizona Bill " was 
not passed that they would leave the Union in sixty days. But the leading 
Republicans told them, that as the North had more men and money they 
would whip the South back — yea starve them into submission, by making 
them eat their own cotton. That they could whip them back in three 
months! That the country wanted some "blood-letting." Members from 
Pennsylvania., on the floor of Congress, boasted that Pennsylvania could 
whip the South. Members from Ohio proposed to take a contract for 
putting down the Rebellion ! 

The southern members said that they wanted some guarantee for slavery; 
as the North had passed personal liberty bills to prevent the rendition of 



103 CIVIL GOYEENMENT OF THE STATES. 

fugitive slaves to their owners. They also said that the election of a 
President on a sectional and abolition platform was the forerunner of Negro 
emancipation. That if they did not get some guarantee for slavery they 
would secede from the Union, peaceably if they could, if not, by force. 
That they wanted that Congress would guarantee that the general govern- 
ment would not interfere with slavery. 

The Southern people, particularly the women, feared that if the Republi- 
cans got control of the Federal government they would abolish slavery in 
the states, and turn the South into a second San Domingo. In the midst of 
this excitement they were made to belfeve, that France and England 
would become" Southern allies, that Northern commerce and manufactures 
would be crippled, and that the Southern army would make New York and 
Boston its headquarters. By such arguments the people of the South were 
seduced into rebellion. " All know the immediate cause of it " (the war). 
''The North and South were at length arrayed against each other, in two 
great political parties on the question of slavery. — Thus the breach between 
the North and South gradually widened, till without some radical change, 
it became apparent that a separation or attempted separation was inevitable. 
Scenes were enacted in every Congress that did not tend to allay excitement 
and even gradually became more hostile in feeling and sentiment 
than any two entirely separate nations, in the civilized world. In 
this emergency, some Whigs of its old leaders cast about for something 
on which to organize a new party, and seeing how deep and wide- 
spread was the anti-slavery sentiment of the North, determined to make 
it in some form its platform. This was the first great step towards 
placing the North and South face to face to each other in a struggle 
for the control of the government." Headley vol. 1, p. 37. The Republi- 
cans of the North held out to the deluded followers the hope that there would 
be no war at all, — that after the South had made a few secession speeches 
in Congress that the excitement would die out, and peace would reign in 
Mosco! But the leaders well knew that there would be war, but they were 
waiting for an opportunity to precipitate it. They knew well that the people 
would have to support the authorities right or wrong ! The people were 
led into war before they were aware of its frightful dimensions. Thousands 
thought that it would be over in thirty days ! Indeed, the Republicans 
wished to plunge the country into war. They spoke of impeaching Presi- 
dent Buchanan. They spoke of Cromwell's triumph over Charles the First, 
and of the Red Republicans of France over Louis XVI. They depicted in 
vivid colors the American reign of terror, as effectually as if they knew the 
bloody programme that was about to deluge the country with human gore. 
While the extremists North and South were endeavoring to precipitate 
the country into internecine war, the Douglas democrats appealed 
to both extremists North and South to settle the troubles of the 
country by compromise. In the midst of this posture of affairs the patriot 
John C. Crittenden offered his famous compromise measures 18 December, 
1860, to save the Union, by restoring the Missouri compromise, which 
would have placed the question of slavery out of the reach and con- 
trol of the Federal government. "But the party clamor at the north by 
the Republican party drowned all patriots. Headley vol. 1. p. 46. — Crit- 
tenden Compromise. Globe, 1860-61. p. 114. The Republican press and 
politicians, a few weeks previous, when South Carolina left the Union, said 
let the South go in peace, as a wayward sister; — that a union held together 
by bayonets was a despotism; that the union should not be held together 
by force now; they said that the "days of compromises were gone by;" 
that they would make no more compromises with slavery. They 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 103 

denounced the Crittenden Compromise. All who advocated a compromise 
were branded as traitors, who were in league with the Southern rebels, or 
as sympathizers, giving them aid and comfort. They proclaimed in the Halls 
of Congress, and through the leading press, that they would let the Union 
slide rather than the Chicago platform. So the Republicans preferred their 
party platform to peace. Jeff Davis said that if the compromise came 
from the north, the south would not leave the Union ; but the Republicans 
would not compromise. — Greeley, Am. Conf. vol. 1, p. 383. Indeed, they 
showed a W'< nt of sincerity in not adopting the Crittenden Compromise ; as 
they gained strength from the democratic ranks by the clamor raised after 
the repeal of the Missouri compromise. Now, they refused to restore it, as 
they voted against extending it to the Pacific, in 1850. Indeed, it was the 
repeal of the Missouri compromise which gave power to the abolitionists 
as they were able to fuse with all parties opposed to the Kansas and 
Nebraska act and the repeal of the Missouri compromise. The responsibil- 
ity of secession and rebellion must be divided between the fanatics of the 
North and the Fire-Eaters of the South, who for years had labored to bring 
about a dissolution of the Union. The majority of the southern people were 
deceived and believed they were in danger of subjugation and that they 
would have to contend with an insurrection of the slaves after emancipation." 
Headley vol. 1, p. 48. 

December, 1860, Mr. Adrian offered a resolution in Congress, the pur- 
port of which was that Congress should abandon the doctrine of inter- 
ference with slavery in the territories. — Cong. Globe 1860, p. 77. That the 
personal liberty bills in the states interfering with slavery should be 
repealed. 'Ihat the fugitive slave law should be obeyed and that the states 
should faithfully adhere to the compromises of the constitution. This 
resolution was opposed by the Republicans as being in conflict with their 
platform. They said that they would not abandon the Chicago platform 
if the heavens should fall! December 1860, Mr. Mallory offered a resolu- 
tion to protect slavery south of the line of 36 deg. 30 miu. — Cong. 
Globe, 1860-61 p. 78. So far were the Republicans from conceding 
to these new demands of the South that Mr. Kilgore offered a reso- 
lution December 13, 1860, that the right of trial by Jury should be 
allowed to fugitive slaves which would in many of the northern states 
amount to a substantial repeal of the fugitive slave law. — Cong. Globe 
1860-61, p. 78. 

Wade said, on the 17th day of December, 1860: — 

"If I know myself I am the last man that would be the advocate of any 
law or any act that would humiliate or dishonor any section of this coun- 
try, or any individual in it: and, on the other hand, let me tell these gentle- 
men I am exceedingly sensitive upon that same point. Whatever they may 
think about it, I would rather sustain an injury than an insult or dishonor; 
and I would be as unwilling to inflict it upon others as I would be to sub- 
mit to it myself. I never will do either the one or the other if I know 
it."— Cong. Globe 1860-61, p. 100. 

Seward said to Mr. Adams, United States minister to London: "For 
these reasons he (Mr. Lincoln) would not be disposed to reject a cardinal 
dogma of theirs (the secessionists) namely, that the Federal government could 
not reduce the seceding states to obedience by conquest, even although he 
were disposed to question that position, but in fact the President willingly 
accepts it as true, only an imperial or despotic government could subjugate 
thoroughly disaffected and insurrectionary members of the state. This Fede- 
ral Republican system of ours is of all forms of government the very one 
most unfitted for such labor." 



104 • CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Was this the true sentiment of the leading Republicans, or was it a delu- 
sion a*id a snare to blind the people, by making them think that there would 
be no war ? Was not this a mere sham to prevent and defeat compromise ; 
to delude the people into the belief that everything would be all right and 
that peace would reign in Warsaw ? Their object being delay until the 
Republican party was in an attitude to make war and then to dictate their 
own terms at the point of the bayonet. The conclusion drawn from the 
after acts of the Republican drama is irresistible that they were not sincere 
in their professions of peace. 

On the 17th January, 1861, Florida seceded from the Union: Mississippi 
on January the 9th, 1861: Alabama January 11, 1861: Georgia January 20, 
1861: Louisiana January 26, 1861, and Texas February 1, 1861. Thus, in 
three months after Lincoln's election, all the cotton states had seceded from 
the Union and seized the New Orleans mint, they had secured all the forts 
and arsenals except Sumter and Fort Pickens. 

Resolutions were offered in Congress calling for a national convention, but 
they were defeated by the Republicans. — Globe 1860-61, pp. 114-17 316. 
Buchanan's message, Dec. 3, 1860: 

"The different sections of ""he Union are now arrayed against each other, 
and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the father of his country 
when hostile geographical parties have been formed. I have long foreseen 
and often forewarned my countrymen of the now impending danger." 
" Violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the North for the 
last quarter of a century has at length produced its malign influence on 
the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of freedom. Hence a 
sense of security no longer existed around the family altar. This feeling of 
peace at home has given place to apprehensions of servile insurrection. 
Many a matron throughout the South retires at night in dread of what may 
befall herself and her children before the morning. Should this apprehen- 
sion of domestic danger, whether real or imaginary, extend and intensify 
itself until it shall pervade the masses of the southern people, then dis- 
union will become inevitable." "It cannot be denied that, for five and 
twenty years, the agitation at the North against slavery in the South has 
been incessant. In 1835, pictorial handbills and inflammatory appeals 
were circulated extensively throughout the South, of a character to excite 
the passions of the slaves; and, in the language of General Jackson, to 
stimulate them to insurrections, and produce all the horrors of a servile 
war. This agitation has ever since been continued by the public press, by 
the proceedings of state and county conventions, and by abolition sermons 
and lectures. The time of Congress has been occupied in violent speeches 
on this never-ending subject ; and appeals in pamphlet and other forms, 
indorsed by distinguished names, have been sent forth from this central 
point, and spread broadcast over the Union, 

" How easy would it be for the American people to settle the slavery 
question forever." All that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all 
for which the slave states have ever contended, is to be let alone, and 
permitted to manage their domestic institutions in their own way." 

" The most palpable violations of constitutional duty which have yet been 
committed consist in the acts of different State Legislatures to defeat the 
execution of the fugitive slave law." 

"In order to justify secession as a constitutional remedy, it must be on 
the principle that the Federal government is a mere voluntary association 
of states, to be dissolved at pleasure by any one of the contracting parties 
If this be so, the confederacy is a mere rope of sand, to be penetrated and dis 
solved by the first adverse wave of public opinion in any of the states " 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 105 

*' The question fairly stated is : Has the constitution delegated to Con- 
gress the power to coerce a state into submission which is attempting to 
withdraw or has actually withdrawn from the Confederacy ? If answered 
in the affirmative, it must be on the principle that the power has been con- 
ferred upon Congress to declare and to make war against a state. After 
much serious reflection I have arrived at the conclusion that no such 
power has been delegated to Congress or to any other department 
of the Federal Government. It is manifest upon an inspection of the 
constitution, that this is not among the specific and enumerated 
powers granted to Congress ; and it is equally apparent that its exercise 
is not necessary and proper for carrying into execution any one of 
these powers. " So far from this power having been delegated to 
Congress, it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the 
constitution. 

"It appears, from the proceedings of that body,^ that on the 31st May, 
1787, the Clause authorizing an exertion of the force of the whole against a de- 
linquent State came up for consideration. Mr. Madison opposed it in a 
brief but powerful speech, from which I shall extract but a single sentence. 
He observed : The use of force against a state would look more like a dec- 
laration of war than an infliction of punishment; and would probably be 
considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts 
by which it might bo bound! " 

"Upon this motion the clause was unanimously postponed, and was 
never I believe again presented. Soon afterwards, on the 8tti June, 1787, 
when incidentally adverting to the same subject he said : Any government 
for the United States, formed on the supposed practicability of using 
force against the unconstitutional proceedings of the States, would prove 
as visionary and fallacious as the Government of Congress : evidently mean- 
ing the then existing Congress of the old confederation. 

Without descending to particulars, it may be safely asserted, that the 
power to make war against a state is at variance with the whole spirit and 
intent of the Constitution. Suppose such a war should result in the con- 
quest of a state ; how are we to govern it afterwards ? Shall we hold it as 
a province, and govern it by despotic power ? In the nature of things we 
could not by physical force, control the will of the people, and compel 
them to elect senators and representatives to Congress." 

' ' The fact is, that our union rests upon public opinion, and can never be 
cemented by the blood of its citizens shed in civil war. If it cannot live 
in the afifections of the people, it must one day perish. Congress possesses 
many means of preserving it by conciliation; but the sword was not 
placed in their hands to preserve it by force." 

This message caused great excitement among the Republicans. Buchanan 
was openly denounced as a traitor. He was blamed for not sending troops 
into South Carolina — for making any mention of compromise or reconcilia- 
tion. The majority of the people north and south were of the opinion that 
there was no power in Congress to coerce a state. The leading Repub- 
licans, such as Greeley of the New York Tribune, held this doctrine. But 
nearly all except the leading politicians and their fanatical dupes shuddered 
at the idea of bloodshed. And if a convention of all the states in the 
union had assembled they would be adverse to bloodshed and would yield 
to the compromise measures. But the Radicals did not want any compromise 
which would oust the slavery question from Congress and politics. Buch- 
anan was in favor of a compromise, for he said: 

"The explanatory amendment might be confined to the final settlement 
of the true construction of the constitution on three special points : 



106 CIVIL GOVERNAIENT OF THE STATES. 

1. "An express recognition of the right of property in slaves in the states 
where it now exists or may afterwards exist. 

2. ' ' The duty of protecting this right in all the common Territories 
throughout their territorial existence, and until they shall be admitted as 
states into the Union, with or without slavery, as the constitutions may 
prescribe. 

3. "A like recognition of the right of the Master to have his slaves, who 
had escaped from one state to another, restored and ' delivered up ' to him, 
and of the validity of the fugitive slave law enacted for this purpose, to- 
gether with a declaration that all state laws impairing or defeating this 
right are violations of the constitution, and are consequently null and void." 
This would be adopting both the Dred Scott decision and the recent Breck- 
inridge platform and ingrafting them on the constitution. — The Republi- 
cans denounced it and said before they would submit to such an 
amendment of the constitution they would let the Union slide. — It would 
in substance swallow up the Chicago platform. Greeley said he would let 
nine Unions slide before he would give up the Chicago platform. 

The border states now appealed to the cotton states and to the northern 
Republicans, to compromise and avert civil war. They said that the border 
states had suffered more from the intermeddling abolitionists of the north, 
than the cotton states. That their slaves were stolen and sent north by the 
''''underground railroad^'''' while the cotton states had lost but very few slaves. 
That in the event of war between the north and south, all the fighting would 
be done on the soil of the border states. That they would be continually 
losing their slaves and other property, by the ravages of war on their soil. 
That the tide of war passing over their states would desolate their planta- 
tions, towns, and cities. That during such war their slaves would easily 
run away and cross over the line to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and 
Illinois. That after the war was over, should the south gain her indepen- 
dence, yet, theii' slaves would run over to the free states. That the border 
states would have to maintain a chain of forts and bristling cannon along 
the border line to guard against raids from the Free-States. The Republi- 
can party refused to pass the Arizona Bill, or the Crittenden compromise, 
referred to, and the cotton states seceded, not by submitting the question of 
union or disunion to the people, but by a convention of the seceding states. 
There was a large union party south, and if encouraged by the Republican 
party, to compromise secession would be impossible ! The border states of 
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, 
Tennessee, and Missouri were adverse to a dissolution of the union. Vir- 
ginia, the mother of states and statesmen, now entered the lists as a media- 
tor between the north and the cotton states. She thought that she could 
effect such compromise measures, as would keep the border states in the 
union. That after some time the cotton states would come back again into 
tlie Union. For this purpose, she called on all the states to send delegates 
to a peace Congress, to be holden at the city of Washington. 

This Congress met, with ex President Tyler as chairman. The States of 
Michigan, Maine, and Minnesoi^a refused to send Delegates to this Congress. 
For the Republicans had from time to time declared that they would not 
pass any compromise that would conflict with the Chicago platform. 
Numerous petitions were sent to Congress to compromise and save the 
country from the effusion of blood. North Carolina recommended the adop- 
tion of the Crittenden compromise. The Peace Congress broke up without 
accomplishing anything. This was the second time that the Republicans 
refused to compromise ; preferring the Chicago platform to the peace and 
welfare of the country, the Constitution and the Union. They were willing 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 107 

to accept the horrors of civil war! The Republicans said that the advocates 
of compromise were traitors ! That they would never compromise with the 
slave power. That they would rather let the Union slide than compromise 
with slavery. In 1861, Jefferson Davis, Fitzpatrick, Clay, Youlee, and 
Mallory resigned their seats in the .United States Senate. Delegates from 
the six seceded states met at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1861, for the purpose of organizing a provisional government. This 
body adopted a Constitution for the confederate states on the 8th of 
February. On the 9th of February 1861, Congress elected Jefferson Davis 
President and Alexander H. Stevens vice-President. (Lost Cause p. 90. ) 

The Constitution adopted by the Confederate States was nearly the 
same as the old Constitution of the United States, with only a few excep- 
tions. It prohibited bounties to any branch of business. The President 
held his office for six years ; he was re-eligible to the same office. It provided 
for the right to take slave property into the territories. 

Feb. 9th, 1861, the democratic convention of Ohio had sent a re- 
solution to Congress to have tbat body "do something definite and 
practical to avert the terrible evils of civil war." — Cong. Globe 1861, 
2D. 820. During this session of Congress a hope of pacification was 
entertained nortk and south. But the leading Republicans said that 
no concession would be yielded, that an issue of arms was more to be 
desired than otherwise. All propositions to compromise were voted 
down by the Republicans. Hale and several other senators said 
that they would not agree to any compromise whatsoever. — Cong. Globe 
1860-61, p. 116. Feb. 37, 1861, a joint resolution from a select committee 
of thirty -three^ to amend the constitution so that slavery should never be 
abolished in the slave states was defeated, — Cong. Globe 1861 p, 1264, 

At this critical time the people of the Noi^th looked to Mr. Lincoln as an 
oracle, who was to decide the destinies of the country and calm the ex- 
citement of the public mind. This was no idle expectation, for Mr. Lincoln 
could by his proclamation keep the border states in the union by proposino" 
peace measures on the principle of the Crittenden compromise. But in- 
stead of meeting the question as Washington did the " \Yhiskey Rebellion^'''' 
in a plain, candid, frank, and une^i vocal manner, he merely said, on his 
way to Washington, that no hody teas hurt. That all things would he right. 
— That the rebellion was only an artificial excitement, — Headley vol. 1, p. 
49. Though he well knew that seven states had seceded from the union, 
he feigned to treat the whole matter lightly. He said it was no more than 
a mere riot. Notwithstanding he went disguised in a Scotch cloak and cap 
to Washington, and was the first President, who called on the armv to 
furnish him with a body-guard. He went to the Capitol to be inaugurated, 
guarded by bristling steel! This was the first step towards a military 
despotism! 

The seceded states told the border states that they did not want to break 
up the Union, but that they wanted to go out to get further guarantees for 
their property. That they w^anted to get amendments to the Constitution 
guaranteeing their rights now or never. — Headley, vol. 1, p. 52. 

Mr. Lincoln's inaugural was susceptible of different constructions. It was 
got up as a puzzle to impose on the people, so that it might be construed 
by those in f^vor of peace, as a peace measure; and by those in favor of 
abolition as an abolition measure ; and by those in favor of war as a war 
measure. Indeed, it was the embodiment of a Non-Committal of his policy, 
which he did not want to disclose, until he was firmly established in the 
Presidential chair surrounded by a large army ! He wished to feel his way 
slowly at first. When he secured an inch he was preparing to take a rod! 



108 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

He wanted to keep his policy in the dark until Congress would enlarge his 
powers. He did not w^ant to propose any plan, which would conflict with 
the Chicago platform ; or the wishes of his party, even to save the Union ! 
He was afraid of the wrath of the abolitionists, who threatened him with 
vengeance, as they did afterwards President Johnson, if he dared not to 
comply with their wishes. They even went so far as to say that they 
wanted a more active man to put down the rebellion. 

During the session of Congress of 1860-61, the Republican party in Con- 
gress refused to let Judge Douglas and the Democratic party know what 
policy they intended to pursue to settle the difiiculties of the country, 
whether by peace or war. This was the fatal rock on which the Republi- 
can party wrecked the constitution. Had Lincoln discarded the Radicals, 
who by their preaching, had brought the country to the awful precipice of 
" Ciml TF<27'," he could have summoned to his aid the conservatives, loyal, 
and patriotic men of the country and ha\T.ng proposed compromise in his 
inaugural and in his message to Congress, he would have the support of the 
Democrats and conservative Republicans, the border statesmen and the 
Union men of the south. The cotton states would then be glad to return 
to the Union, as soon as a general amnesty bill would be passed in regard 
to acts of secession ! But the Republicans, as already stated, denounced 
all propositions for compromise and conciliation and preferred to plunge 
the country into the fataj maelstrom of civil war rather than give up the 
Chicago platform ! The extremists both north and south had control of 
the state Legislatures, and failed to pass acts for submitting the question 
of war or peace to a vote of the people, who would have voted for com- 
promise to save the country from war. 

The majority of the people thought that Lincoln would withdraw the 
troops from South Carolina. The New York Tribune and other Repub- 
lican papers said '•''let the South go in 'peace.'''' The President hesitated to 
reinforce Fort Sumter. Some discussion took ph\ce in the cabinet about 
the surrender of Fort Sumter. Chase was in favor of withdrawing the 
troops from Sumter. Greeley's Am. Conflict vol. 1, pp. 440-42. 

The administration ordered a fleet to sail to reinforce Fort Sumter: 
which arrived outside of Charleston harbor and bar about the time that 
Beauregard was bombarding Fort Sumter. Immediately on the fall of Sumter 
the whole North was seized with a frenzy. Republican mobs raised 
the "flag excitement" and all persons who were known to be leading 
democrats were visited by mobs and compelled to "hoist the flags " over 
their buildings. Those who merely disapproved of the war, were denounced 
as traitors, rebels, or rebel sympathizers. To oppose or even speak against 
the war policy was considered treason. Such papers as opposed or even 
disapproved of the war policy were suppressed, either by mobs or the 
authorities and the proprietors and editors sent to Fort La Fayette and 
other forts. Meantime the President issued his proclamation, April 
1861, declaring the cotton states in a state of rebellion and calling out 
75,000 men, for three months, to protect the capital, and to repossess the 
public property. He declared the ports of the cotton states closed to the 
commerce of the world, as also the Mississippi River. He called a special 
session of Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1861. The border states, 
through their executives, refused to respond to the. call of the President 
for troops — declaring his acts calling out 75, 000 men and closing the ports 
unconstitutional. Virginia, who before this proclamation, voted down in 
convention, secession by a majority of 70 for the Union — App. Globe^ 
1861-62, p. 13, now said they would not let the Federal troops invade 
the '-''Sacred soil of Virginia.'''' The state of Kentucky declared that she 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOKY OF UNITED STATES. 109 

would remain neutral. That she would not allow either the Federal or 
Confederate troops to invade the" state ! North Carolina had voted down 
secession before Lincoln's proclamation. Arkansas had postponed her con- 
vention until full in hopes of compromise which was hoped would be passed 
to save the Union. Now, these states declared that they would secede from 
the Union as all hope of pacific adjustment was lost. West Virginia seced- 
ed from the old State of Virginia, and set up a government of its own and 
sent representives to Congress, who were admitted to scats. This was 
a palpable violation of the constitution ! This Congress sanctioned seces- 
sion and a violation of the constitution. This shows the bad faith of the 
Republicans. They showed that they were always ready to violate the con- 
stitution whenever it avowed their party purposes. — For they had always 
preferred party and public plunder to their country, the Union, and the 
constitution ! Two days after the interview of the commissioners with Mr. 
Lincoln, Virginia joined the confederates. North Carolina, Tennessee and 
Arkansas followedVirginia, and the President occupied Maryland with troops ; 
citizens were disarmed in Maryland and Missouri — many arrests were made — 
the writ of Habeas Corpus was suspended and the country put under a reign 
of terror! Tennessee was divided between the union men and the confederates. 
Indeed, there was a strong union element in every one of the seceded states 
before the President issued his proclamation. They were forced into re- 
bellion when they beheld the reign of terror inaugurated by the Radicals, 
for the Radicals trampled under foot both free speech and free press ! The 
Radicals called it treason to speak either in favor of peace or compromise, 
or even to say that the war would last long and that wx would have to pay 
an enormous debt and eternal taxation ! In Missouri, Governor Jackson 
and the other state officers were deposed by a state convention and new 
state officers elected. The state of Maryland attempted to secede. 
Congress met July 4th 1861, and the Republicans in their 4th of July ora- 
tions told the people that there should be but one party, and that the 
Republican party. That opposition to Lincoln's administration was 
treason ! They called upon the President to abolish slavery by proclama- 
tion. They said there could be but one party in the country. Those who 
were loyal and those who were disloyal. Those who differed with the 
President were either mobbed or bastiled ! At this cession of Congress (in 
1861,) a resolution was passed prohibiting the transaction of any business 
but what pertained to war and for putting down the rebellion. This was 
done to exclude the passage of peace measures ; for the Republicans did 
not want peace. They preferred war so as to have an opportunity to es- 
tablish their Federal principles at the cannon's mouth and the point of the 
bayonet ! But to lull the people into confidence in the policy of the ad- 
ministration as well as to get volunteers, congressmen said that the war 
would be over in three months. That they could cut off the southern peo- 
ple from the commerce of the world and' starve them into submission. 
That the northern blockade squadron would prevent them from selling 
their cotton, and as they would have neither money nor provisions that 
they could not carry on the war for three months. The President made a 
great mistake in not calling Congress together sooner before the secession- 
ists had time to discipline their armies. This delay caused the country 
thousands of lives, and millions of dollars ! 

The states of Maryland, Delaware, and the quasi state of West Virginia, 
Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky, sent representatives to Congress, still 
hoping to avert war by some compromise : but all compromises were read 
out of order, as the Republicans had passed a resolution the first day of the 
session, as already mentioned, that Congress should pass no act but what 



110 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

was necessary as a war measure; and to clothe the President with powers to 
put down the rebellion. By this foolish act the Republicans repudiated 
all accommodation or compromise with the South and left the question to 
be decided by the God of battles. Congress passed an act enlarging the 
powers of the President, so that he could, on his own motion, declare 
any part of the country in rebellion and blockade its ports, and seize on 
vessels of the citizens of said rebellious district found in any of the ports 
of the United States. Congress also ratified the acts of the President, just 
as if Congress had the right to abolish or violate the constitution or to 
absolve the President for violating it. Congress claimed and has ever since 
claimed the right to govern the country by the sword. For it fell back on 
the old Federal docrines of Hamilton and Adams, and the public law of 
imperial Rome. The republicans denounced as traitors all who spoke of 
preserving the constitution ! 

"Chief Justice Taney held that the President could not suspend the writ 
of Habeas Corpus by mere proclamation. But the Republicans having a 
majority in Congress, as well as a majority of the Northern governors and 
state Legislatures, set the opinion of the Chief Justice at defiance. 
They held that the mere will of the President and the Congress was the 
supreme power to which all should submit. The Chief Justice said, that if 
the liberty of the citizen were subject to the whim, caprice, or tyranny of 
military men the people would be reduced to abject slavery. This was 
prophetic. The President got an opinion from his Attorney General Bates, 
who held that the President, as a ^'■military necessity ^''^ could suspend the 
Writ of Habeas Corpus, close the ports and call out 75,000 men to sup- 
press the rebellion. This opinion was weak and unfounded in law. 

" At the beginning of the present Presidential term, four months ago, 
the functions of the Federal Government were found to be generally sus- 
pended within the several states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of the Post Office 
Department." 

"Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an imperative 
duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if possible, the consummation 
of such attempt to destroy the Federal Union, a choice of means to that 
end became indispensable. This choice was made, and war declared in the 
inaugural address. The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all 
peaceful measures, before a resort to any strong ones. It sought only to 
hold the public places and property not already wrested from the govern- 
ment, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest on time, discussion, 
and the ballot-box." 

Here was a pledge from the President of the United States to the people 
of the North and of the border states that the resort to arms was merely to 
recover the public property for the Constitution and the Union. This 
was done to induce the Democrats of the North and the Union men of the 
South to gain the Union army. How he kept his promise — how he redeem- 
ed his pledge, his word, is now known to the world. Thousands of men 
North and South who joined the Union army and fought for the old flag 
would not do so if they knew that they would be used as a means for sub- 
jugation, for establishing a military despotism both North and South, but 
they were induced to join by means of this promise of the President. But 
in a few months he violated his promises and pledges! The same 
message shows Lincoln's policy on the evacuation of Sumter and on the 
practicability of reinforcing the same : 

" On the 5th of March, (the present incumbent first full day iii office,) a 
letter of Major Anderson, commanding at Fort Sumter written on the 38th, 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP. UNITED STATES. Ill 

of February signed at the war department on the dth of March, was by that 
department placed in his hands. This letter expressed the professional 
opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could not be thrown in^o that 
fort within the time for his relief, rendered necessary by the limited supply 
of provisions, and with a view of holding possession of the same, with a 
force less than twenty thousand good and well disciplined men." * * "The 
whole was laid before Lieutenant General Scott, who at once concurred 
with Major Anderson in opinion." * * "He also stated at the same time 
that no such sufficient force was then at the control of the government."* * 
" In a purely military point of view, this reduced the duty of the adminis- 
tration in the case, to the mere matter of getting the garrison safely out of 
the fort. It was believed, however, that to abandon that position, under 
the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous." 



CHAPTER XIV. 



The next attempt was to send a fleet to garrison Fort Pickens, and to 
evacuate Fort Sumter as a military necessity. But it was found difficult to 
reinforce Fort Pickens. In the meantime a fleet was fitted out to relieve 
Fort Sumter. The Governor ol' South Carolina was notified that Fort 
Sumter would be provisioned, and if an attempt would be made to prevent 
the same — then the fort would be reinforced. South Carolina had offered 
to supply the fleet with provisions herself. — This was the state of aff'airs when 
the Federal fleet appeared off Charleston harbor — when the Confederates 
fired upon Sumter. The president held a correspondence with the authori- 
ties of South Carolina about provisioning Sumter. This is what the leaders 
wanted, for they did not want to evacuate the fort and they wanted the 
South to fire the first gun. — To commence the rebellion — this was Seward's 
policy, for they well knew that this would arouse and unite the North 
against the South. Indeed, many Republicans had a few days before this 
expressed the opinion openly that they were willing to let the South go in 
peace. So said Greeley and other leaders of the Republican party ! 

The President further said in his message on the evacuation of Fort 
Sumter : 

"This government desired to keep the garrison in the Fort, not to assail 
them, but merely to maintain visible possession, and thus to preserve the 
Union from actual and immediate dissolution— trusting, as herein before 
stated, to time, discussion, and the ballot-box, for final adjustment." How 
soon he abandoned this position when he had an army at his control. Many 
of his political opponents were made to believe that the war was for no 
other purpose than for the constitution, the Union, and the supremacy of the 
laws. It was necessary for the President and his party to keep their ulti- 
mate object in the background — for even in the border states the majority 
were for the Union. Here is what the President said : "The border states, 
so called, were not uniform in their action, some of them being almost for 
the Union, while in others — as Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Ar- 
kansas the Union sentiment was nearly repressed and silenced." The fear 
that the war would be used for ultimate abolition was the cause of this. 
The people were not certain that Mr. Lincoln would keep his word. 
Many persons both North and South said that the Republicans would, 
when able, use the war power for the Emancipation of the slaves. The 
Republicans denied this and denounced the democrats as traitors and 
copperheads. But time shows that the Democrats were right! 



112 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

The President in his message claimed the right to suspend the writ of 
habeas corpus — to call out the militia, to close the ports, and to declare the 
blockade. He said whether legal or not they " were ventured upon under 
what appeared to be a popular demand and a public necessity, and trusting 
then as now that Congress would readily ratify them." 

Now, why did not the President call Congress together sooner? Certainly 
he could convene Congress sooner — why wait from the 4th of March, to the 
4th of July — while the country was in the midst of revolution? It was done 
so that he could inaugurate the war before Congress assembled, so as to cut 
off all debates on compromise. How did he know that Congress would 
ratify his actions? had he an express promise from the leading Republicans ? 
Compromise would have saved the union — would have prevented blood. 
Hear what he further says in his message on this subject: 

"It may well be questioned whether there is, to-day a majority of the 
legally-qualified voters of any state, except perhaps South Carolina, in 
favor of disunion. 

" It is ventured to affirm this even of Yirginia and Tennesee; for the 
result of an election held in military camps, where the bayonets are all on 
one side of the question voted upon, can scarcely be considered as demon- 
strating popular sentiment. At such an election, all that large class who 
are at once for the union, and against coercion, would be coerced to vote 
against the union." 

It was to get the union men to support the Lincoln policy that the fol- 
lowing part of the message was addressed, as to the future policy of his 
administration: "Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid 
men as to what is to be the course of the government towards the southern 
states after the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the executive deems 
it proper to say, it will be his purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the 
constitution and the laws; and that he probably will have no different 
understanding of the powers and duties of the Federal governmeht 
relatively to the rights of the states and the people, under the constitution, 
than that expressed in the inaugural address." 

Many democrats north and south believed that Mr. Lincoln would keep 
his word and conduct the war merely for constitutional purposes. But he 
did not mean to abandon either the platform of his party or his own prin- 
ciples — that the country could not last "half slave and half free." He 
had the emancipation of the slaves before his mind day and night, as can 
be seen from his future messages. It was with the deepest regret that the 
executive found the duty of employing the war power in defence of the 
government forced upon him. He could but perform this duty, or surren- 
der the existence of the government. No compromise by public servants 
could in this case be a cure ; not that compromises are not often proper, 
but that no popular government can long survive a marked precedent that 
those who carry an election can only save the government from immediate 
destruction by giving up the main point upon which the people gave the 
election." Now, it may be asked what vital question was before the 
people, in the election of 1860 ? It was the slavery question as set forth 
formally in the Chicago platform. That was the main point that elected 
Mr. Lincoln. This is what he did not want to compromise, for he would 
be the political death of his party. 

Lincoln did not offer any plan of compromise. He was willing that the 
American people should engage in a cruel and bloody war — father against 
son — brother against brother — neighbor against neighbor. He was willing to 
behold the burning of cities — the desolation, carnage, and misery of frater- 
nal war — the agonies and moans of the widows — the tears of the orphans— 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 113 

a mountain of debt — eternal taxation — yea, and even military despotism, 
and military prisons. And what for ? — to support the Chicago platform — to 
uphold a mere political party. 

The Republican papers now raised the war cry — that the Capital was 
in danger. That the flag should not be trampled upon. They denounced 
all who spoke of liberty or the Constitution. In the name of loyalty they 
denounced Democrats and all who spoke of peace. Evidently the Repub- 
licans wished to plunge the country into war as they saw an opportunity 
of making money, as army contractors and speculators ; others wished for 
the titles of captains, majors, colonels and generals — they saw before their 
visions crowns, stars, and garters; which filled the imaginations with 
ambitious views of future greatness! Those, who, on the contrary, beheld that 
the war would bring national calamity, misery, and eternal taxation, and 
who saw before them a long and bloody war, were denounced as sympa- 
thizers with the rebellion. Many were thus driven into silence and others 
into prison, or mobbed; — the Radicals had things their own way. 

To impose on the people and to cover up the arbitrary proceedings of 
the administration and the Republican party, the cry was raised that the war 
would not last long. This was done for an other object, to encourage the 
enlistment of volunteers, so that France and England would not recognize 
the southern confederacy by representing that those states were merely 
disturbed by a local and insignificant insurrection ! 

Mr. Seward instructed Mr. Dayton, minister to France, to have him 
impress on the French government that there was no idea of a dissolution 
of the union. On this occasion, the New York Tribune^ which a few 
months previous was in favor of letting the south go, now said : ' ' That Jeffer- 
son Davis & Co. would be swinging from the battlements at Washington, at 
least by the 4th of July." 

The New York Times said, "We have only to send a column of twenty- 
five thousand men across the Potomac to Richmond, and burn out the rats 
there ; another column of twenty-five thousand to Cairo seizing the cotton 
ports of the jVIississippi ; and retaining the remaining twenty-five thousand 
included in Mr. Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men, at Washing- 
ton, not because there is need for them there, but because we do not re- 
quire their services elsewhere." The Philadelphia Press said; "no man 
of sense could, for a moment doubt that this much ado about nothing 
would end in about a month. The ' ' Chicago Tribune said : That Illinois could 
whip the south herself." — Lost Cause p. 126-7-8. The loyal governors of 
Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York offered men to 
suppress the rebellion. Several northern merchants offered money to the 
government to suppress the rebellion. This shows that there was a great 
party in the north in favor of war as they were made to believe that it 
would last but a few months. Though the authorities knew better as 
Congress had empowered the President to take possession of Railroads and 
Telegraphs. Acts were passed for increasing the army and navy. 

The leaders of the rebellion .wished also to delude the people, and in- 
duce them to go to war. The Southern orators told their people that 
there would be no war. That they would be willing to drink all the 
blood that would be shed. — Lost Cause, p. 129. 

They said " the Yankees would not fight; that cotton was king; that 
France and England could not exist without cotton; that they would have 
to aid the South." — Lost Cause, p. 133. So the leaders, both North and 
South held out a cheap termination of the war — both deluded the people. 
On the 24th May, the Federal Army occupied Alexandria and the Rebels 
fell back upon Manassas Junction. The Radical politicians wanted to hurry 



114 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

on the war. They even charged Lincoln and his cabinet and General Scott 
with conniving with the "Rebels." In the meantime Scott got a large 
army on the Potomac. General Beauregard, with much bravado, said they 
could easily whip the Yankees — that Scott's army on the Potomac was an 
armed mob. — Lost Cause 138-9. 

General Butler, who commanded in Maryland, held that all fugitive 
slaves, who came within his lines were "contraband of war," and declared 
them free; this was a step towards emancipation. 

The Northern press now assumed the right to dictate the manner 
of conducting the war. They claimed the right to dictate to Gene- 
ral Scott and General McClellan, the latter being in command of 
West Virginia. On the 22d June, 1861, Pierpont called the new con- 
stitutional Legislature of West Virginia. On the 23d June, 1861, General 
McClellan issued his proclamation announcing the course he would 
pursue towards the loyal and those who were found in arms. — Headley 
vqI. 1, p. 92. The Radicals raised the cry of "on to Richmond" and 
forced the army to move south. The Union army was defeated at the 
battle of Bull Run. The defeat at Bull Run was caused by the Radical 
press and Congressmen dictating to generals in the field. Many Congressmen 
left Washington to see the fun but they were forced to make a hasty retreat 
back to Washington. At the battle of Bull Run, the K Y. 69th Reg. (Irish) 
under Col. Corcoran showed the world what Irish soldiers can do on the 
field of battle. They proved to the world that the valor of Irishmen on the 
battle field, all over the world, is a historical fact. The 1st Reg. Minn. Vols, 
commanded by Col. W. A. Gorman fought well. Yet, notwithstanding the 
bravery of Shields, Mulligan, Corcoran and Meagher, and W. A. Gorman 
and of the thousands of Irish soldiers who fought in the Union army, the 
Radicals did not want to promote Irishmen. No Irish need apply ! They 
wanted all for their own party, civil and military ! Had the secretary of war 
sent troops which were kept around Washington to the aid of McDowell he 
would have driven the Confederates from Manassas. The leading "rebels" 
would have been taken and the back bone of rebellion broken. Then by 
timely conciliation and compromise and a general amnesty the war would 
have been ended, but the Radicals did not want peace. They did not want 
the constitution and Union of Washington. They wanted a Union and con- 
stitution without slavery — for they had for years denounced the constitu- 
tion and the Union as a " league with death and a covenant with hell." 

The New York Tribune said, January 26th, 1862: 

"The nation is fighting for life — though all the paper constitutions on 
earth be scattered to the winds we can honestly say that, for the old Union, 
which was kept in existence by southern menaces and northern concessions, 
we have no regrets, and no wish for its reconstruction. Who wants any 
Union which can only be preserved by systematic wrong and organized 
political blunders ? Who wants any Union which is nothing but a sentiment 
to decorate Fourth of July orations with ? 

Now that the Radicals had the power of the President, the Congress and the 
army and the navy at their backs, they were determined to throw off the mask 
and display their true characters. They said there could be tolerated but one 
party and that was the party that supported Lincoln; all others were to be 
put down by force. They told the country that the rebellion could be put 
down in sixty days by means of the great Anaconda, with its head at Fortress 
Monroe and its tail at Winchester, that this great monster could soon anni- 
hilate the rebellion. That there were thousands of union men south 
watching for the advance of the union forces to join the north! That we 
would have a united north and a divided south. That all who opposed 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 115 

them sliciild be denounced, persecuted, and imprisoned — two thousand 
were kept in duress vile without a charge being preferred against them! 
On the 26th July, 1861, McClellau was called to Washington to take command 
of the army of the Potomac. About this time Fremont had returned from 
Europe with arms, and was put in command of the western department, with 
headquarters at St. Louis. When McClellan took command of the army 
he found the troops around Washington in a state of perfect demoralization 
— it was an armed mob. The bar rooms in Washington and other cities 
were crowded with officers in full uniform without the least idea of military 
discipline. The idea of military subordination seemed a disgrace to those 
who volunteered. They could not appreciate such a thing as a military 
superior, — this feeling was displayed and shared by the soldiers. (Headley 
vol. 1, p. 125.) General Fremont assumed command of the western de- 
partment. He appeared with the pomp and power of an Eastern Satrap. 
On the 10th of August 1861, he issued a proclamation declaring martial law 
in Missouri : asserting that his lines extended from Leavenworth to Cape 
Girardeau on the Mississippi. That the property real and personal of all 
those who took up arms against the United States should be confiscated and 
their slaves set free. This measure was prompted by the abolitionists as a 
feeler to find if the people were ready for emancipation. For the adminis- 
tration was careful to keep back their real object until the minds of the 
people were prepared by northern orators and the press for final emancipa- 
tion. This move of Fremont was premature, as the bulk of the northern 
people thought that the war was for the Union and not for the abolition of 
slavery. The administration was not yet prepared for Fremont's procla- 
mation ; so his proclamation was disavowed and overruled. Fremont 
showed his utter unfitness for his military command. He had refused to 
reinforce Colonel Mulligan, though he had a large force at his command, 
but he let him be captured at Lexington, Missouri, by a superior force. Yet 
Mulligan fought with great bravery. When called upon to surrender, he said : 

"If you want us you must take us." — Lost Cause 163-4-5. Fremont proved 
a complete military failure in Missouri, and orders were sent from Wash- 
ington for his removal and for the appointment of Hunter in his place. 
Fremont did not want to obey this order for his removal ; but finding him- 
self unsupported by Sigel and Ashboth he had to yield to the authority of 
the administration. — Lost Cause pp. 166, 167, 168. 

Congress had appointed a committee to clear the public offices on charges 
of treason. Men in every part of the North found themselves suddenly 
arrested, and without the form of trial hurried to prison. No writ of 
Habeas Corpus could reach them. The bayonet was stronger than the order 
of the court. Men began to look aghast, and began to speak of the Star- 
chamber, lettves de cachet of France. Secret informers lurked everywhere, 
newspapers were suppressed and a reign of terror and of despotism inaugu- 
rated. The confiscation of rebel property was proclaimed through the 
press. The government was not disposed to exchange prisoners of war. 
But Davis told them he would imprison man for man and that he would 
hang man for man. The Lincoln administration had to yield and exchange 
prisoners. This was a recognition of the confederacy as a ^ ' MUgej^ent 
^ower.^^ The Republican newspapers lauded McClellan to the skies. They 
called him "the young Napoleon." On the 26th of August, 1861, an ex- 
pedition sailed from Fortress Monroe, and on the 28th arrived before Hatteras, 
and that fort fell into the hands of the union army. This was considered 
by the North as a great victory over the "rebels." France and England 
were very sensitive under the blockade and it was thought that they would 
demand its abandonment the next spring. 



116 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

On the 8th of November 1861, Captain Wilkes of the United States sloop- 
of-war San Jacinto, overhauled the English Mail steamer Trent and demand- 
ed the surrender of two confederates, Mason and Slidell, who were on an 
embassy to the courts of England and France. They were taken by force 
from the steamer. England displayed her usual bluster and demanded of 
the authorities at Washington prompt reparation. Earl Derby notified the 
English vessels that war with America was probable. The government of 
England made rigorous preparation for war — reinforcements were sent to 
Canada and the country fortified along the frontiers. 

Meantime Captain Wilkes received due praise from the Secretary of the 
navy. He received public thanks from Congress. Gov. Andrews of Massa- 
chusetts said "that that was one of the most illustrious services that had 
rendered the war memorable." "The New York Times said, "consecrate 
an other 4th of July to him." It was thought that the with England 
was inevitable. But neither Lincoln nor Seward had back-bone enough to 
go to war, and after all this bluster of Congress and the press, Mason and 
Slidell were given up to England. Oh, if we had then a Jackson ! Great in- 
dignation was felt, when it was announced that the Nashville had arrived 
in England, with the crew of the Harvey Birch, an American merchant ship 
which the Nashville had burnt at sea. The English authorities would not 
allow the Tuscarora which had pursued the Nashville to sail the same time 
as the latter, but was delayed by British authorities, until the Nashville had 
24 hours the start of her. Many Americans wished for peace at home, that 
they might have an opportunity to make war on England. — Headley vol. 1. 
pp. 210-11. 

Lincoln's Message, Decembek 3, 1861. 

The following is an extract from Lincoln's message, December 3, 1861, 
on his policy on the Slavery Question and the object of the war. 

Co.nfiscation of Rebel Property. 

' ' Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled, ' ' An act to confis- 
cate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved Aug. 6, 1861, 
the legal claims of certain persons to the labor and service of certain other 
persons have become forfeited, and numbers of the latter, thus liberated, 
are already dependent on the United States, and must be provided for in 
some way. Besides this, it is not impossible that some of the states will 
pass similar enactments for their own benefit respectively, and by operation 
of which persons of the same class will be thrown upon them for disposal. 
In such case I recommended that Congress provide for accepting such per- 
sons from such states according to some mode of valuation, in lieu pro 
tanto^ of direct taxes, or upon some other plan to be agreed on with such 
states respectively : that such persons, on such acceptance by the general 
government, be at once deemed free, and that, in any event, steps be taken 
for colonizing both classes (or the one first mentioned, if the other shall 
not be brought into existence,) at some place, or places, in a climate con- 
genial to them. It might be well to consider, too, whether the free 
colored people already in the United States could not, so far as individuals 
may desire, be included in such colonization." We see that Mr. Lincoln 
changed his policy in the short time from the 4th of July to the 3d day of 
December. He said in his message in July that the object of the war was 
for the Constitution and the Union. Was there any thing in the Constitu- 
tion justifying Mr. Lincoln to accept human beings in lieu of direct taxes? 
Nothing, whatever. It was this message, as well as the last, that extin- 
guished the embers of hope which still lingered in the hearts of 
the Union men of the south. Now they ^ saw that the war would 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 117 

be used for confiscation and emancipation — consequently thousands 
who were good Southern men joined the Confederate army. In the North 
many of the Democrats got dissatisfied with Lincoln's policy and refused 
to volunteer. The cry was, "the Republicans have begun the war 
— they have refused to compromise with the South, let" them do 
the fighting themselves. Hence the fierce opposition to Mr. Lincoln. 
But the Republicans denounced all who refused to endorse Mr. Lincoln 
and his party. He had a divided North and a divided South. Many of 
the Northern Democtats when they enlisted in 1861, thought that it 
would be a good thing to colonize the Africans. That the agitation of 
slavery had been the cause of trouble and excitement, and in order to get it 
out of politics and for the peace of the country they were willing to have 
the Negro in some country by himself. The soldiers caught up the same 
idea and were willing to violate the Constitution on this point alone. . So 
Mr. Lincoln found favor with many, as they did not dream that he would 
go so far as to issue a wholesale proclamation for the emancipation of all 
the slaves in the South. He carried out his policy by "a little to-day 
and a little to-morrow." He kept up pace with public opinion; and if he 
found that he had got ahead of public opinion he took the back track 
until the times changed. In the meantime the press of the country, of the 
Republican stripe, was busy mouldirig public opinion in favor of Emancipa- 
tion, paper money, high tarifi", and monopoly. The Republicans did 
not care for the welfare of the Negro as they did to weaken the power of 
the people of the South, who always were for free trade. The Republicans 
with great force made it a point to impress on the minds of the people that 
Lincoln w^as honest. That his motives were pure. This was believed by 
many, even by democrats. But, still he was for his party first and last. 

Mr. Lincoln in his message, never mentioned peace, for he well knew 
that the Republicans did not want peace, for they wanted to enrich them- 
selves by the war and the misfortunes of the country — they were willing to 
sell their country for gold and office. Radicals in Congress at the session 
of 1860-61, passed resolutions that the war was to be prosecuted for the 
union and constitution alone; that the administration did not want to in- 
terfere with slavery in the states ; now having a large army and navy they 
said that the "Rebels" had lost all rights by their rebellious acts. That 
slavery should be abolished and if necessary the Southern States should be 
reduced to territories, to be settled by Northern immigrants. That South 
Carolina should be made a Colony for freedmen. At this session of Con- 
gress the Republicans passed a bill for abolishing slavery in the District of 
Columbia and in the territories. They appropriated $100,000,000, to be 
put in the hands of the President to compensate the owners of slaves in the 
District of Columl)ia. Some of the western members, when they arrived in 
Washington, were loud in their denunciation of McClellan, for not moving 
on the enemy — they denounced what they called his "masterly inactivity." 
It seemed certain that the Radicals were forming a party against him for he 
would not adopt the Lincoln policy. McClellan's friends asserted that 
wherever he moved his army that his plans were divulged to the enemy. 
Suspicion fell on persons in high station— on the authorities. The secretary 
of war was also blamed, and not without good cause for he wanted to defeat 
every democratic general.— Headley vol. 1, pp. 210-11. He feared that 
McClellan would take Richmond and that the democratic party would get 
into power. The Republicans had a n.ania for office and plunder. They 
would not give up power, cost what it would, for the abolitionists never 
before had control of the government, and now having control they had no 
scruples to prevent them from trampling on the constitution which they had 



118 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

always denounced as a "covenant with hell." And as for the Federalists 
of the Republican party they had opposed the constitution from the begin- 
ning, and only wanted an opportunity to abolish it and adopt the British 
Constitution, so-called. At the session of Congress 1861-62, the Radicals 
held that as slavery was the cause of the war it should be abolished. The 
politicians w^ere so much exasperated against McClellan that nothing but 
'' unqualified victory " could save him from ruin. 

The administration resorted to the most extraordinary modes of warfare 
for putting down the rebellion. A number of old vessels loaded with stone, 
were sunk in Charleston harbor, to make the blockade more complete. 
England remonstrated, but Mr. Seward informed the British authorities 
that the English blockade runners with contraband goods on board, had 
entered Charleston harbor since the sinking of the stone fleet. — Headley vol. 
1, pp. 226-7. — The members from the border states, in Congress wished to 
maintain the Union and put down the rebellion; but they difi'ered mate- 
rially from the Repu1)lican party in the manner of putting it down. For 
they did not want to interfere with Slavery, but to let it alone and to put 
down the rebellion by foice of arms — to maintain the constitution and the 
Union unimpaired. But the Radicals insisted that slavery should be de- 
stroyed, that the abolition of slavery should keep pace with the advance of 
the army. 

Lincoln sent a message to Congress making a proposition to the border 
states for purchasing their slaves. He said that if they did not accept his 
proposition that they would have to lose their slaves. This strengthened 
the power of Jeff Davis as the union men of the south saw that the object 
of the war w^as the abolition of slavery. This proposition weakened the 
power of the authorities at Washington. The old Federalists who, from 
the days of John Adams and Hamilton, w^ere trying to mould the .govern- 
ment after the model of the British constitution, now had an opportunity to 
indulge in their favorite scheme of copying from England, This Congress 
passed an income tax. Acts for issuing United States notes and bonds were 
passed. Congress made these notes "legal tender," in violation of the 
constitution which provides for the payment of debts in gold and silver. 
A. S. Johnson with a rebel force occupied Kentucky with his right wing 
at Bowling Green and his left at Columbus. The Richmond papers urged 
him to cross the Ohio and capture Cincinnati and carry the war into Africa. 
A large force of Federals had been collected at Paducah, at the mouth of 
the Tennessee river, which penetrated into Alabama and Tennessee with 
nothing to protect it but Fort Henry. The Cumberland river was still 
more important as the avenue to Nashville. But the capture of Fort 
Donelson compelled the Confederates to fall back from Bowling Green to 
Murfreesboro, abandoning both Nashville and the Cumberland river. 

The South was doomed to experience the fall of island No. 10, and the 
northern generals with the gunboats had command of the upper 
Mississippi. The fall of Shiloah or Pittsburg landing still contracted the 
rebel lines. But the southern leaders held that this only gave them 
strength as it weakened the northern forces by running them farther from 
their base of supplies. The southern press endeavored to make the people 
of the south think that every defeat w^as a victory. But the fall of New 
Orleans, the great commercial city of the south filled the southern mind 
with gloom and despair. This could not be called a contraction of lines or 
a change of base. It was a sad affair for the south ; for the people north 
and south knew that this was a vital point. They remembered that the 
British made a great effort to capture it in the w^ar of 1812. That the defeat 
of Pakenham had immortalized General Jackson. That the battle of New 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 119 

Orleans had been celebrated the same as the fourth of July. So that the 
ingenuity of the Confederates could not satisfy the people of the south that 
the fall of New Orleans was a military stratagem. This broke the rebel 
power in Louisiana, Texas, and the Gulf States — closed the access to the 
grain and cattle country of the south. This gave the Union army a new 
base of operation and had the effect to shake the confidence of European 
powers in the fortunes of the confederacy. It closed the port and prevented 
them from shipping off their cotton and getting supplies. General Burnside 
captured Roanoke island, January 1862, with a fleet of sixty vessels. This 
capture was the first to create public censure towards the Richmond authori- 
ties. — Lost Cause p. 213. The rebels fell back on all sides — an actual inva- 
sion of the'f sacred soil " had taken place. — Lost Cause p. 215, Immediately 
after these great victories the abolitionists threw off the mask and through 
the press commenced to pave the way for the attainment of their favorite 
idol, the abolition of slavery. 

Mr. Seward said, in the senate, before Lincoln's inauguration. ' ' Experience 
in public affairs has confirmed my opinion that domestic slavery existing 
in any state is wisely left by the constitution of the United States, ex- 
clusively, to the care, management and disposition of the states, and if 
it were in my power I would not alter the constitution in this respect." 
But he did not mean this ; he was not sincere ; for the Republicans did not 
want to disclose their ultra plans of final abolition in the states. The 
army had obtained several important victories in the field. Although the 
President had nullified Fremont's proclamation freeing slaves in Missouri 
now as public opinion had favored General Hunter's proclamation, proclaim- 
ing martial law in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida and freeing the 
slaves therein which Lincoln also nullified, for he wished to crush the re- 
bellion first and slavery afterwards. — Headleyvol. 1, p. 232. Even, in 1861, 
the leading abolitionists showed that they intended to abolish slavery when 
clothed with power, for in 1861, Lovejoy offered a resolution in Congress 
"that it was no part of the duty of a soldier to capture and return fugitive 
slaves. An act was passed confiscating slaves found in arms against the 
government. In 1862, Senator Bright of Indiana, was expelled in a most 
shameful manner from the senate. The Republicans, having now a two-third 
vote, in consequence of the southern members leaving the Halls of Congress, 
determined to inaugurate a reign of terror and expel democrats from 
Congress, who opposed their revolutionary schemes or who commented on 
the gross system of frauds, corruption, and plunder. 

Lincoln now disclosed his plan for emancipation — his friends in Congress 
passed a resolution declaring that the United States would co-operate 
with such States as would gradually abolish slavery (Act March 6, 1862) 
by giving them pecuniary aid, August 28, 1862. Greeley addressed a 
letter to Lincoln, through the Tribune, to abolish slavery; that if the 
rebellion was crushed out to-morrow, within a year it w^ould be in full 
vigor if slavery was not abolished. Greeley vol. 2, p. 249. Lincoln held 
back his emancipation proclamation for some time for fear that the 50,000 
soldiers in the Union army from the border states would go to the South. 
Greeley vol. 2, p. 252. On the 22d. day of September 1862, he issued a pro- 
clamation that the slaves of all rebels would be emancipated Jan. 1, 1863. 
He wanted the success of the Union army before issuing his proclamation ; 
he wanted also to wait the result of the fall election. Lincoln's war policy 
and the ill treatment of McClellan gave the Democracy majorities in New 
York, and New Jersey. The Republicans lost strength in Penn., Ohio, 
Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.— 76. 254-5. The majority at the North 
was opposed to changing the war for the Union into a war for the Negro. 



120 ClVIIf GOVEKNMENT OP THE STATES. 

A majority was in favor of peace and compromise and against emancipa- 
tion. — Greeley vol. 2, p. 254-5. 

The Confederate Congress passed a conscription law April 16, 1862. It 
drew all citizens between the ages of Eighteen and Thirty-five from state 
control and put them under the Confederate authorities. — Lost Cause 220-21. 
This seems strange of the southern leaders, who had for years, denounced 
all who interfered with state-rights. They seceded from the Union because 
they asserted that Lincoln would violate state rights by abolishing slavery: 
now they themselves struck down the most sacred of state rights for they 
took from the states all control over the state militia. 

Lincoln knew that the people were attached to state-rights. That they 
would not like to see them violated. For this purpose he said in his 
message that the people should not be too scrupulous about ^^ state-rights,^^ 
as the union was older than the states. That the union made the states. 
He intimated that the state governments might be abolished to save the 
union. This was done to pave the way for future Eadical reconstruction ! 
For a long time before the election of Lincoln the Republicans quoted Jef- 
ferson for the purpose of gaining recruits from the Democrats. Now, when 
they wanted to violate the constitution, they claimed the right to put down 
the rebellion by the right of conquest. They quoted from Yattel, and 
other writers on the law of nations. They considered the rebels in the 
union for the purpose of reducing them under the jurisdiction of the Fed- 
eral authorities, and outside of the union and constitution for the purpose 
of confiscating their property by the laws of war; in the same breath they 
treated them as citizens of the United States and alien public enemies. They 
now held that the President could dispense with the constitution and govern 
the country by the laws of war and the law of nations. The Republicans 
violated every sacred guarantee of the constitution, both in the rebellious and 
free states. A great battle was fought between the Merrimac and the 
Monitor which revolutionized the naval affairs of the world. The "rebel" 
Merrimac would have sunk many of the nothern vessels if she had got to 
sea, which was only prevented by the timely arrival of the little Monitor. 
Complaints were made against the secretary of the navy for not providing 
against the Merrimac. For the government knew all winter that she was 
building a month before she made her appearance. Some French officers 
who visited her had pronounced her formidable. This great conflict 
between the Merrimac and Monitor -produced a profound sensation in Europe, 
especially in England. Her wooden walls vanished in a day. — Headley 
vol. 1. p. 300-1. 

Grant failed in his Belmont expedition. He also failed in not coming up 
to reinforce Rosecrans at the battle of luka. Had he rendered the nec- 
essary aid to Rosecrans at that time he could have captured the rebels. 
But he failed to come up until next day; and Price was able to escape and 
fall back into the interior. — Headley vol. 2, p. 95. Grant made another 
blunder at the battle of Pittsburg Landing; he failed to be on the field of 
battle in time to form his men. The Union army would have been driven 
into che Tennessee River only for the death of the confederate general 
Johnson, and the bravery of General Sherman and the timely arrival of 
General Buell. 

General Grant made a great mistake in marching his army on the west 
side of the Tennessee River before he formed a junction with Buell's corps, 
which was crossing the country from Nashville, while Johnson was at 
Corinth, having water and rail communication with New Orleans and 
Mobile and the entire south to reinforce him. On the 4th of April, Johnson 
moved his entire army to attack Grant on Saturday, but in consequence of 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 131 

the muddy roads he was not able until Sunday morning. The Union army 
was surprised and Prentiss with &000 men taken prisoner, and the whole 
army would have been driven panic-stricken into the river but for the 
bravery of Gen. Sherman. 

There was no one on the field of battle to form a line — each general had 
as much as he could do to take care of his own division, as Grant was at 
this tim'3 at Savannah several miles down the river, when the battle begun. 
This wsis a stupid blunder. Had any Democrat, who was not friendly to 
Lincoln's administration or war policy, committed such a blunder he would 
have been court-martialed. The Union army which stretched, in the 
morning, in a semi-circle of over six miles, was in the evening compressed 
within a circle of half a mile, — one more push would drive them into the 
Tennessee River. "Oh! that Buell or night would come !" was the most 
earnest wish of the Union oflScers. The whole army was on the brink of 
ruin and annihilation, when Buell's cavalry appeared on the opposite brink 
of the Tennessee River. Buell's presence turned defeat into victory. The 
Union army now became triumphant and the whole Mississippi valley was 
saved from falling into the hands of the Confederates ! Headley vol. 1, pp. 
339-40-41-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9; 350-1-2. 

Grant's stupendous blunder was unpardonable in moving his army across 
the Tennessee River before he had formed a junction with Buell as he 
might have known that Johnson would move his army on him from Corinth. 
As we have said before,, he would have been able to attack Grant on Satur- 
day but for the muddy roads, and he would have defeated him before Buell 
could come up. What a stupid act this was for Grant to remain behind at 
Savannah. But thanks to Sherman and Buell for the Union victory of 
Shiloh. Yet we find that the Radicals persecuted the same Buell who 
saved the Union soldiers from meeting a watery grave in the blue waters of 
the Tennessee River. And what for ? — because he was a Democrat and would 
not worship Lincoln's policy ; " for Lincoln and his administration were 
intent on sacrificing one way or an other all generals who differed with 
them or who would not yield to their sole opinion. Grant kept his mind 
to himself, so that he might be able to please both parties. Corinth was 
evacuated on the 30th of May, 1862, and on the 7th of June the Confederates 
fell back on Tupelo. — Lost Cause, 320-21. After the fall of Corinth the 
Confederates evacuated Memphis. 

While the country was deluged in blood, Butler had a fine harvest of 
" spoons," in New Orleans. He reigned more like a monarch than a general 
of a Republican army. He practised with some show of success the example 
of the Mexican Generals. He issued orders to his soldiers to insult southern 
women, citizens were arrested and cruelly confined with ball and chain. 
Mayor Monroe was confined in Fort Jackson — a woman was confined at 
Ship Island for laughing while a soldier's funeral was passing. While Butler 
was in ISTew Orleans hurling orders at women he could have captured Port 
Hudson and Vicksburg — saving thousand of lives and millions of dollars. 
He was so covetous for money that his brother traded with the rebels for cot- 
ton — thus making his own brother his agent. 

Butler had created such a reign of terror in New Orleans, that he was 
obliged to be always surrounded by his body guards. Such was the reign 
^ of terror inaugurated by the ieast that the Louisiana soldiers went into 
i battle shouting "remember Butler. "—Butler had a sign in his office in the 
St. Charles Hotel, with the following inscription: "A she-adder bites 
M^orse than a male-adder." — Youth's Historical War, p. 184. See Youth's 
History of the Civil War, pp. 182-3.— Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. 2, pp. 105-6. 
The misfortunes and defeats of the Confederates were somewhat alleviated 



133 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

by the great victories of Stonewall Jackson in the valley. He made himself 
famous by his victories in Virginia; he defeated Banks, captured all his 
commissary stores and ordnance. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Congress now held that the constitution was played out; that there 
should be no other power but the will of "the powers that be," at Wash- 
ington! General Halleck was appointed commander-in-chief of the army 
of the United States; he was only a mere Lawyer^ who had no experience 
in military affairs. Lincoln's cabinet had no men of military experience. — 
Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. 1, 501. He was not competent to drill a 
company of soldiers, but he was a strong supporter of Lincoln's policy. If 
any one wanted promotion in the army it was necessary to coincide with 
"Lincoln's policy ;" any democratic general who was firm enough to oppose 
"Lincoln's policy," was sacrificed. Such was the case withBuell, McClellan, 
Porter, Rosecrans and Shields, General Shields, the Sarsfield of America, 
was the only man who whipped Stonewall Jackson: he was an old veteran, 
who won immortal fame ou the battle fields of Mexico, and in the war in 
Florida under General Jackson, fighting against the Indians. — But he was 
not a Lincoln man — that was enough ! The Republicans claimed that the con- 
stitution was played out ; indeed military governors were appointed for North 
Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, July 21, 1862. John S. Phelps was ap- 
pointed military governor of Arkansas. A Bill whs passed confiscating 
rebel property, July 17, 1862. Another act was passed to suppress insur- 
rection and to punish treason and rebellion. At this session the Writ of 
Habeas Corpus was suspended. A bill was introduced for the employment 
of Negro soldiers. Indeed very little was done at this session of Congress 
but legislating against slavery; passing tariff laws; and increasing the 
war power of the President. July 1, 1862, Congress passed a revenue law 
which greatly added to the power and patronage of the party by creating 
an army of oflacials. On May 20, 1862, an act was passed increasing the 
powers of the secretary of war. May 21, 1862, an act was passed for the 
education of colored children of the district of Columbia. This act caused 
great excitement at the north; for it could not be called a military neces- 
sity. For it was not pretended that it helped to put down the rebellion. 
It was evident that Congress had now assumed unlimited powers — not con- 
trolled by the constitution or the traditions of the founders and fathers of 
the constitution. 

June 5, 1862, an act was passed to appoint a minister to Hayti. This was 
the first time that the Federal government had recognized the government 
of that island. This caused great displeasure North and South. In the 
North all unconstitution d acts weakened the power of the authorities of 
Washington: while at the South it drove thousands of union men into the 
confederate ranks. 

June 7, 1862, an act was passed for collecting taxes in the rebel states. 
June 19, 1862 an act was passed for abolishing slavery in the territories. This 
was the old bone of contention. For this question had agitated the country 
for years. It was the great issue in 1860. 

Feb. 25th, 1862, an act was passed for issuing notes and for the funding 
of the public debt. 



CONSTITUTIONAIi HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 12B 

An act was passed March 6th, 1862, requiring an oath of allegiance and to 
support the constitution of the United States to be administered to the 
masters of American vessels. 

May 15, 1862, Congress passed an act for the establishment of the depart- 
ment of agriculture. The Eadicals intoxicated with power, became wild 
and reckless. They were not restrained by the constitution of the United 
States nor the welfare of their common country ; they were ready to 
sacrifice all patriotism and the welfare of their country on the altar of party 
politics. Every thing was sacrificed for the Chicago platform. For some 
time, they had been, with great ingenuity, construing the constitution by 
implication and intendment, but now they openly declared that the consti- 
tution was "played out." They fell back on the law of nations and the 
laws of war. They even said that they would trample under foot the con- 
stitution ! They said that they wanted a strong government. Indeed, all the 
old arguments of the Federalists were resounded in the ears of the people. 
"Have we a government or not," was the cry ! The Republicans, as already 
Btated, werd determined to defeat McClellan for fear that if he should take 
Richmond he would become so popular tb at he would be made President. 
That the democratic party would get into power; that the Republicans 
would lose for ever their darling object of abolishing slavery everywhere. 
McClellan had to de'.ay for many causes. He had to discipline his army, 
which, when he took command, he found in a demoralized state. He would 
be able to move sooner only for the intermeddling of the authorities at 
Washington, who wanted to thwart all his movements for party purposes, 
although when the war broke out they pledged themselves to the demo- 
crats that all parties should be merged in the patriots. That there should 
be but one party and that that party should crush out rebellion and main- 
tain the constitution and the Union. But this was all a delusion and a 
snare to gull patriotic democrats to enlist. This delay of McClellan gave 
an opportunity to the confederates to recruit their forces and to fortify their 
position. 

Although the Confederates had lost many strongholds, that they held 
from Yicksburg to Richmond, Stonewall Jackson held the valley, and 
Lee was formidable at Richmond, with an army for offensive operation; 
besides the Confederates had a large Trans-Mississippi army and many 
strongholds on the coast. Charleston and Sumter were well fortified and 
well garrisoned. McClellan's plan was to send an army to Charleston; an 
other to Texas and another force to sail up the Mississippi from New Orleans 
to form a junction with an army which was to move down the Mississippi 
from Cairo ; another army was to move through Kentucky, Tennessee and 
Georgia to the sea; while his own army was to move on Richmond by way 
of the James. See report of Gen. McClellan to the Secretary of war. This 
was an admirable plan and the one after several blunders, which was adopted 
by Grant. But these plans were marred hj the authorities at Wasbinsfton, 
for they wanted to defeat him. He had to disclose his plans to the Wash- 
ington officials, who had now assumed the complete control of the move- 
ments of the army. These plans were made known through the ISTorthern 
press. The Confederates profited by this information; as they were 
apprised of all McClellan's movements. Lincoln ordered McClellan to ad- 
vance on the 22d of Sep., 1862. His army was divided into five army 
corps and a mountain department, under Fremont, in western Virginia. 
The President virtually assumed the duties and responsibilities of the 
Commander-in-chief. McClellan called a Council of war. AH but four 
generals pronounced the m.ovement unwise. But the President overruled 
their decision and ordered McClellan to move at once. By this act Lincoln 



124 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

and Ms Secretary of war took the grave responsibility of breaking up the 
well matured plans of General McClellan and his officers, disregarding the 
counsels of these officers, whom he had put at the head of military affairs, 
who ought to know more about the movements of an army than mere civil- 
ians and political generals who could not drill a company — who were from 
their education unfit to judge of military matters, as well as officers learned 
in the science and arts of war. For McClellan had experience in military 
matters from his education, as well as from his experience in the Mexican 
war, and his knowledge of European warfare, as he was one of the officers 
detailed by the United States to inspect the mode of warfare practiced by 
the French, English, Russians, and Turks at the siege of Sebastopol, 
while Lincoln, Stanton, and Halleck had no experience excepting what 
Lincoln had in the Black Hawk war among the western savages. 

McClellan was defeated in consequence of the blunder of Stanton in not 
sending McDowell to McClellan to close up his right wing. By this 
blunder Stonewall Jackson got into his rear and McClellan was forced 
to fall back on his gunboats. Had McClellan had his own way of 
conducting the war he could have taken Richmond and could have 
crushed the rebellion. But the Radicals did not want the war over, for 
they were making vast fortunes by it, and as we have said before, they did 
not want to see the Democrats get into power. For they would sooner see 
the south out of the union than see McClellan President of the United 
States. Greeley blamed McClellan for favoring war with England, on the 
Trent affair. — Greeley Am. Conf. vol. 1, 628. Lincoln took ten thousand 
men from McClellan's command and sent them to Fremont in the mountains 
of Virginia where they were not wanted. — Youth's History of the Civil War, 
pp. 193-4-5. Lincoln feared for his own safety at Washington. McClellan 
frequently wrote to him and Stanton for reinforcements. He told them 
that he would have to fight a superior force. Lincoln and Stanton, who were 
lawyers without military education or experience, assumed to fight the 
battles of the country from their desks. — See McClellan's report to the 
Secretary of war. They failed to send the desired reinforcements. Jack- 
son slipped from Banks and Fremont and got by McDowell into McClellan's 
rear. Lee called on the available troops of Virginia commanded by Stone- 
wall Jackson, Jeff Davis, Longstreet, Magruder, Hill and Ewell. — Greeley, 
vol. 2. pp. 132 to 154. 

Immediately after McClellan's defeat on the Potomac, caused by the 
blunder of the traitor and villain Stanton in not reinforcing him, the Presi- 
dent called out 600,000 men. Why did not the President call out 600,000 
men before the defeat at Richmond ? The people now began to realize the 
effects of the war; real estates depreciated 50 per cent and all the necessaries 
of life rose one hundred per cent. The people now awoke as from a dream 
to behold the huge dimensions of the war which was brought on by the 
Radicals and Fire-eaters! The opposition to the administration increased, 
for it was soon found that 600,000 men could not be raised by volunteering, 
so Congress passed an act giving additional bounties. Towns, cities and 
counties gave bounties. Congress passed an act for drafting if the states 
should fail to fill up their quotas. Now the Radicals said that they would 
not sustain the war if the Union was restored with slavery! Greeley and 
the governor of Massachusetts told the President that if he would issue a 
proclamation for the emancipation of the slaves, " that in such an event the 
roads from Boston to Washington would be black with union soldiers. 
This made the war one for the abolition of slavery ! 

In order to put down all opposition, and to trample free speech under 
foot and to inaugurate a reign of terror, the Radicals put the country North 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 125 

and South under martial-law. It was made penal to discourage enlistments 
and persons were prevented from leaving the country without a passport. 
The Provost Marshals reigned as petty despots and in some instances per- 
sons were forced into the ranks of the army or drugged and then forced. 
Secretary Seward had, some time previous,, issued his order for the purpose 
of preventing persons from leaving the United States without a passport. 
In short, the administration became despotic ; in a few months the United 
States Government which before Lincoln's election was the freest and best 
in the world, now became the most despotic in the world — no person was 
safe — private suspicion and party malice consigned thousands to prison, in 
the free states alone without charge or trial ! 

After the battle of Kichmond, Pope superseded McClellan. Pope arrested 
citizens for refusing to take an oath of allegiance. He banished thousands 
from their homes for refusing to take an oath unauthorized by the Consti- 
tution on mere frivolous complaints — even on mere suspicion. In 1862, the 
Eepublicans were elated by means of the victories of the Union Army, and 
now that the war spirit was on the increase at the north, they could drown 
all opposition by the cry of '■'-rebel sympathizers^ The war Democrats in 
the army, having become accustomed to look upon every person south 
outside of the union picket lines, as an enemy, were willing that anything 
might be done to put down the rebellion — so that they could go home to 
their families and friends. They gradually began to abate their love for 
their southern brothers. They did not forget the Charleston Convention 
nor the defeat of Douglas — for the southerners by running three candidates 
helped to elect Lincoln. Many Democrats in the army, now became indif- 
ferent to the rights of the South and did not care if the ' ' peculiar insti- 
tution " was abolished — moreover military commands, by general orders 
from the war department were allowed to forage in Virginia, Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and 
Arkansas, so from taking the property of "rebels "in one instance they did 
not object to see the Negro set free. 

The word abolitionists, which a few years before, was considered by 
democrats as something infamous, was now treated with indifference. 
This was what the other Republicans wanted. This was what Seward, 
Greeley, and Lincoln wanted. Having prepared the minds of the army for 
the ultimate abolition of slavery, strong party lines were now drawn in 
Congress. The democratic party still claiming that the object of the war 
should be the suppression of the rebellion and the maintenance of the con- 
stitution and the union. Meantime tbe Republicans threw off all disguise 
and set themselves to work to free the slaves in the southern states, while 
the war extermination was at fever heat. As early as March 13, 1862, 
Congress passed an act prohibiting the employment of union troops in re- 
turning fugitives from labor to their owners. This was a violation of the 
old fugitive slave law, which the Republican party never intended should 
be enforced, for they had time and again mobbed those who claimed their 
fugitive slaves. Even before the war, they went so far as to break jails and 
take those fugitives from the custody of the United States authorities. — 
See act 1862. 

The object of this act was to prepare the minds of the Democrats in the 
army to sanction the abolition of slavery. 

On the 22d September, 1862, Lincoln issued his first emancipation procla- 
mation which was not to go into effect until January 1st. 1863. For he 
did not know what the people would think of it at the fall elections. In- 
deed, Lincoln's policy was condemned at the fall elections: Seymour was 
elected governor of New York. The tyranny of the administration was 



136 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

condemned, and New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana re- 
pudiated the unconstitutional acts of the administration by electing 
Democrats ! 

The defeat of the Radicals was sorely felt — Seward, Blair and Smith were 
in favor of withdrawing the emancipation proclamation, but Chase said that 
the abolitionists, who had control of Congress, would not prosecute the 
war if the Union was reconstructed with slavery. That they would sooner 
let the Union slide. He said that he had a letter from Sumner, Wade, Wil- 
son, Fessenden, and Lovejoy to that effect. That the issue was war for the 
abolition of slavery! 

This caused a bitter feeling at the north and the Republicans backed up 
the policy with the sword. Lincoln now traded off fat offices, both civil 
and military, to all who supported his policy : several leading apostate Dem- 
ocrats joined Lincoln for offices and army contracts. The age of corruption 
and slavery now assumed gigantic proportions. The administration had 
recourse to the old Hamiltonian principles of bribery and corruption and the 
hideous system of spies and informers. The Republicans copied every thing 
that was wicked from England. The people who were now smarting under 
hard tioaies and taxation — having to pay one hundred per cent more 
for clothing and other necessaries of life than before the war, were indig- 
nant at the weakness and failure of the administration in putting down the 
Rebellion by this policy. They saw that the army was controlled by the 
administration composed of men, who were ignorant of all military affairs ; 
as well as the mere ' •• paper officers " greedy, ignorant, and inefficient who 
were to lead thousands of Union soldiers to be butchered ! The administration 
of Congress had their favorites and political friends in positions where they 
filled their pockets as speculators and contractors. 

Lincoln, knowing that colonization was even popular with the Whigs and 
many Democrats, offered colonization as a step towards universal emancipa- 
tion — it was indeed, a great stroke of policy. 

An extract from President Lincoln's message December 1st, 1863, on the 
subject of the colonization of free Africans : "Applications have been made 
to me by many free Americans of African descent to favor their emigration 
with a view to such colonization as was contemplated in recent acts of 
Congress. Several of the Spanish American Republics have protested 
against the sending of such colonies to their respective territories. Under 
these circumstances, I have declined to move any such colony to any state, 
without first obtaining the consent of its government. Liberia and Hayti 
are, as yet, the only countries to which colonies of African descent from 
here could go with certainty of being received and adopted as citizens ; and 
I regret to say such persons contemplating colonization do not seem so 
willing to emigrate to those countries as to some others, nor so willing as I 
think their interests demand." He held the following opinion on the 
currency, which shows how much the Radical party has drifted from the 
principles held by Mr. Lincoln, in 1863. 

"A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period compatible 
with due regard to all interests concerned, should ever be kept in view. 
Fluctuations in the value of currency are always injurious." 

He then referred to his emancipation proclamation of 33d September, 
1863, and of the resolution for "compensated emancipation." 

' ' The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate peace, 
insure the increase of population, and proportionally the wealth of the 
country. With these, we should pay all that emancipation would cost, 
together with our other debt, easier than we should pay one other debt, 
without it." 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 127 

"The plan is proposed as permanent Constitutional law. It cannot 
become such without the concurrence of, first, two-thirds of Congress, and 
afterwards, three-fourths of the states." 

"In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free honorable 
alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly 
lose the last, best hope of earth. Other means may succeed ; this could 
not fail." 

Comment is unnecessary. Before the war, the complaint of the South 
was that the Lincoln party wanted to free the slaves, whenever it got into 
power. The President said that they should take the last opportunity on 
earth to abolish slavery — this, indeed, is the key-note of the opposition 
of the peace democrats to the policy of the administration in con- 
ducting the war for the abolition of slavery, and not for the Union. 
Hence the grumbling of that portion of the democracy called copper- 
heads. They wanted the war for the support of the constitution and the 
union ! 

We here find an issue between the Republicans and the democrats on the 
war policy. The former wanted to use the war power for the abolition of 
slavery, and the latter for the suppression of the rebellion, and the main- 
tenance of the Constitution and the Union. This was the gulf which 
divided the two parties. The Republicans denounced all who did not 
accept this policy as traitors and copperheads. This even broke up the 
Democrats into two factions, the war and peace Democrats. 

December 16, 1862, Vallandigham, of Ohio, offered the following 
amendment : 

'"'• Resolved — 1. That the Union as it was, must be restored and maintained 
forever under the constitution as it is — the fifth article providing for 
amendments included. 

" 2. That no final treaty of peace ending the present civil war can be 
permitted to be made by the Executive, or any other person in the civil or 
military service of the United States, on any other basis than the integrity 
and entirety of the Federal Union, and of the States composing the same, 
as at the beginning of hostilities, and .upon that basis peace ought imme- 
diately to be made. 

"3' That the government can never permit armed or hostile intervention 
by any foreign power in regard to the present civil war. 

"4. That the unhappy civil war m which we are engaged was waged, 
in the beginning, professedly," not in any spirit of oppression, or for 
any purpose of conquest, or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or 
interfering with the rights or the established institutions of the states, but 
to defend and maintain the supremacy of the constitution, and to preserve 
the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several states 
unimpaired," and was so understood and accepted by the people, and 
especially by the Army and Navy of the United States ; and that, therefore, 
whoever shall pervert, or attempt to pervert, the same to a war of conquest 
and subjugation, or for the overthrowing or interfering with the rights or 
established institutions of any of the states, and to abolish slavery therein, or 
for the purpose of destroying or impairing the dignity, equality, or rights 
of any of the states, will be guilty of a flagrant breach of public faith, and 
of a high crime against the constitution and the Union. 

"5. That whoever shall propose, by Federal authority, to extinguish 
any of the states of the Union, or to declare any of them extinguished, and 
to establish territorial governments or permanent military governments 
within the same, will be deserving of the censure of this House and of the 
country. 



138 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

"6. That whoever shall attempt to establish a dictatorship in the United 
States, thereby superseding or suspending the constitutional authorities of 
the Union, or to clothe the President or any other officer, civil or military, 
with dictatorial or arbitrary power, will be guilty of a high crime against 
the constitution and the Union and public liberty. — Cong. Globe 1862-63, 
p. 104. 

December 23, 1862, Mr. Vallandigham offered this resolution to restore 
peace. 

'■^Resolved — That this House does earnestly desire that the most speedy and 
effectual measures be taken for restoring peace in America, and that no time 
may be lost in proposing an immediate cessation of hostilities, in order to 
the speedy final settlement of the unhappy controversies which brought 
about the unnecessary and injurious civil war, by jast and adequate security 
against the return of the like calamities in times to come ; and this House 
desires to offer the most earnest assurances to the country that they will, in 
due time, cheerfully cooperate with the executive and the states for the re- 
storation of the Union by such explicit and most solemn amendments and 
provisions of the constitution as may be found necessary for securing the 
rights of the several states and sections within the Union under the consti- 
tution."— Cong. Globe 1862-63, p. 165. 

For these resolutions and his speeches he was denounced as a traitor and 
a copperhead. His name was known in the land as the leader of what was 
then called copperheads. Any democrat who would either vote or speak 
for him was called, in the army, a rebel. Indeed, any one who spoke of any 
other peace but final and unconditional surrender, was called a traitor. 
Anything short of the rebels giving up their leaders and submitting at dis- 
cretion was then called, by the Republicans, treason to the government ! To 
vote the democratic ticket was called treason ! 

December 9th, 1862. The bill to indemnify the President and other 
persons for suspending the writ of habeas corpus being before the House, 
the following debate took place. 

Mr. Bayard: 

"The President of the United States has asserted the right to dispense 
with the law which requires the habeas corpus to be issued in any case of 
judicial arrest. He has claimed that right ; he has exercised that right. 
He has openly, through the Secretary of war, issued a proclamation which 
virtually subverts this government, if carried out in practice ; because the 
secretary of war is authorized to appoint an indefinite number of men, 
constituting a corps of provost marshals, who are to have the right, in 
addition to their military duties, to arrest any citizen throughout the 
country for indefinite charges, and to call in military aid to sustain their 
action : and they are to report to the central authority at Washington, 
and hold the party in custody subject to the orders of that central 
authority. 

" If the judiciary attempt to intervene, as in the case of the prisoner at 
Fort Warren, the bayonet of the soldier rejects the service of the writ 
upon the military commandant who has possession of the prisoner. The 
judiciary, then, are powerless for redress; and under this asserted right 
on the part of the President, that the judicial department of the govern- 
ment being powerless to redress individual wrong, if the legislative branch, 
which is equally powerful with the executive, are not to interpose^ by 
calling for the information, the facts, and by the expression of their opinion, 
if it be necessary, when facts are returned to them, what protection has 
the citizen against the aggression of executive power ? How can the 
government be a free government, where, when the judiciary is put at 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 129 

defiance, the legislative unites in saying to the citizen, ' ' you shall have no 
investigation; you may be arrested by officers unknown to the law, in- 
definite in numbers, on oifences unknown to the laws, not described, 
for disloyal practices, which may mean anything that an executive 
officer pleases. You may be arrested not only by the order of a func- 
tionary at "Washington, who, from his position, may be supposed to 
have ability to exercise some discretion, but you may be arrested at the 
discretion of any one of his subordinate deputies, and an investigation is 
not to be made by any other tribunal than by an ex parte return made in 
your absence, and without any power of investigation on your part, to the 
central authority at Washington. If the proclamation of the 26th of 
September be carried out, and taking the general facts that have 
occurred as matters of history, that is the state of things and the power 
claimed by the executive. Sir, I consider that power a subversion of this 
government." 

" Clearly, it has nothing whatever to do with the war; it can have no 
possible connection with the war, when we ask the President for the 
evidence on which a man has been committed to prison." 

"If we abandon our functions here of calling for evidence on which this 
is done — this government is no longer a free goverment, it is simply a des- 
potism in the hands of a bureau aristocracy at Washington." 

Mr. Clark: 

" I hope that this resolution will be laid on the table. I hope that this 
resolution, and all resolutions of a similar character, ofi"ered in this one body or 
in the other, will not receive the sanction of either House of Congress." 

Saulsbury : 

"I am not here to offer any excuse for any man who has raised his hand 
against the constitution or government of the United States." 

If any of the citizens of Delaware so act, let them be arrested according 
to law, tried according to law, convicted according to law, and punished 
according to law. But, sir, if citizens of a state are arrested and are 
placed in the forts of your country, without any knowledge on their part, 
or on the part of their friends, of the causes of their arrests, shall no voice 
be raised in their behalf? "—Cong. Globe, 1802-63, pp. 26-7-8-9. 

Mr.- Trumbull : 

"My own views upon this subject have been expressed to the senate. I 
have thought that these arrests, in the manner in which they have been 
made, have been unfortunate and impolitic, to say nothing about the ques- 
tion whether they were legal or illegal. Upon that question there is a 
great diversity of opinion in the country. The better opinion, as has been 
stated here to-day, among judges, and lawyers, and constitutional commen- 
tators, surely is, that the writ of habeas corpus was never intended by the 
constitution to be suspended except in pursuance of an act of Congress. 
The courts have so held, judges have so stated, commentators have so 
written, and not a commentator can be found, who has written on the 
constitution before this rebellion, who ever disputed that proposition." — 
Cong. Globe, 1862-63, p. 31. 

Doolittle : 

"Does not the senator from Kentucky know that we are at war; that the 
whole country is at war, that the law of war is in operation in Wisconsin as 
well as in Kentucky, in New York as well as in Mississippi ? " 

Mr. Powell: 

"The oath which has been required from many of these persons is not 
simply an oath of allegiance but is far wider than that. I repeat again, if 
I were arrested for an offence I would not purge myself by an oath." 



130 CIVIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

"I thought I understood what the laws of war were. All the laws of 
war we have in this country are the Articles of war, which are statutes 
passed by the Congress of the United States for the government of the army, 
and those who are not in the land or naval service are not subject to those 
laws and articles of wan" 

McDougall : 

" The military power of the government has required not only the oath of 
fealty but also a special oath something in this nature : the party solemnly 
swears that he will not hold the persons arresting him responsible for civil 
damages at any future time." Mr. Doolittle. "I have never heard of 
such a thing." 

Mr. McDougall: "I will say then to the senator I am, I think, well ad- 
vised that by direction of the war department such an oath was administer- 
ed to a gentleman who was a candidate for representative from Iowa, who 
was discharged. (His name, I think, is Mahony.) Mr. Mahony was an Irish- 
man, the editor of the Dubuque Herald. He was arrested because the ad- 
ministration feared that he would be elected to Congress — he was a Democrat. 
They required that oath of him, and I am advised they required the same 
oath of others. I am well advised that the evidence of it is in the war 
department." 

Mr. Saulsbury: 

"A gentleman residing in the town in which I live was arrested by mili- 
tary authority and carried to Cambridge, Maryland; there the affidavits 
were examined and he was released ; and he informed me that he was re- 
quired to take an oath that he would not prosecute the persons who arrested 
him."— Cong. Globe 1862-63, pp. 35, 36, 37. 

Mr. Davis: 

"The President of the United States has promulgated three of the most 
extraordinary and startling edicts that ever originated with any man who 
occupied the position of the chief Magistrate of a free people. They are 
in the form of proclamations, dated the 32d and 24th of September, 1862, 
and the 1st of January 1863; and he comes at length to profess to issue 
them by virtue of the power vested in him by the constitution, as com- 
mander-iu-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, as a fit and 
necessary war measure to suppress the rebellion." — Cong. Grlobe 1862-63. 
p. 529. 

It was said by senators and members of Congress and the leading Repub- 
licans, in and out of Congress, that those who were arrested on suspicion 
would have the prison door open if they took the oath of allegiance. The 
Republicans appealed to the passions of those who had friends in tlie union 
army that all those who complained of false arrests were disloyal, in sym- 
pathy with traitors — that it was no hardship for loyal men to take the oath 
of allegiance. Although those who were arrested had to swear that they 
would not prosecute those who arrested them. That the President should 
be supported, that it would not do to arraign him for his acts, so long as 
he was putting down the rebellion. That the arrests were done under the 
war measure. 

December 1st, 1862, Mr. Powell introduced the following joint resolution 
in relation to illegal arrests in the United States. 

"Whereas, many citizens of the United States have been seized by persons 
acting, or pretending to be acting, under the authority of the United 
States, and have been carried out of the jurisdiction of the states of their 
residence and imprisoned in the military prisons and camps of the United 
States without any public charge being preferred against them, and with- 
out any opportunity being allowed to learn or disprove the charges made 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 131 

or alleo-ed to be made against them ; and whereas, it is the sacred right of 
every citizen that he shall not be deprived of life or liberty without due 
process of law, and when arrested shall have a speedy public trial by an 
impartial jury. Therefore be it resolved, by the senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of" the United States of America in Congress assembled, that 
all such arrests are unwarranted by the Constitution and the laws of the 
United States, and a usurpation of power never given by the people to 
the President or any other official. All such arrests are hereby condemned 
and declared palpable violations of the Constitution of the United States; 
and it is hereby demanded that all such arrests shall hereafter cease and 
that all persons so arrested and yet held should have a prompt and 
speedy public trial according to the provisions of the Constitution, or 
should be immediately released." Mr. Collamer: "Let it lie over." — 
1862-63, p. 3. 

December 10th, 1862, Mr. Saulsbury offered the following resolution. 
^''Besohed^ That the secretary of war be, and he is hereby, directed to inform 
the senate whether Dr. John Laus and Whiteley Meredith, or either of them, 
citizens of the State of Delaware, have been arrested and imprisoned in 
Fort Delaware; when they were arrested and so imprisoned; the charges 
against them ; by whom made ; by whose orders they were arrested and 
imprisoned ; and that he communicate to the senate all papers relating to 
their arrest and imprisonment."— Cong. Globe 1862-3, p. 17. 

Saulsbury : 

"From time to time, numbers of the citizens of that state have been 
arrested, I believe generally by the Maryland home guards ; whether it has 
been done by authority of the department of war, I do not know. They 
have been carried off and confined in military forts. I have not, however, 
proposed to go into any general inquiry in reference to the arrests in that 
state; but as to these two gentlemen, one of whom resides in my own 
county and the other not far off in the adjoining county, they are known 
to me personally, and have been for a number of years, and as their friends 
do not know of any just cause why they should be imprisoned in Fort Del- 
aware or elsewhere, I have felt it my duty to call for this information. I 
hope the senate will not perceive any reason for refusing to comply with 
this request. If they are there properly, if they have been guilty of any 
attempt to subvert the government, if they have acted traitorously in any 
respect, their friends do not know it ; I do not know it, I do not believe it. 
They have been in Fort Delaware now for some time, and neither them- 
selves nor their friends have been apprised of any cause for their arrest, or 
of the reason for which the arrests were made. I hope the senate therefore 
will adopt the resolution. 

Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts : 

' ' I feel constrained to oppose the adoption of the resolution. I believe 
that instead of the few hundred arrests we have had, we ought to have had 
several thousands." 

"I know the government of this country has forborne a great deal. 
Adopting this resolution at this time looks to me as a sort of arraignment 
of the government of the Country for making these arrests." — Mr. Bayard: 
"Mr. President, I had supposed, previous to the events of the last year or 
two, that in this country we lived under a free government, though we 
were at war. I always supposed that the great value of this government 
consisted in the fact that it afforded, beyond all other governments, the best 
guardianship to the liberty of the individual citizen. 

The honorable senator from Massachusetts tells us that, in his opinion, 
the government have forborne. 



133 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

" At Fort Warren in which the soldiers of the United States refused to 
allow the writ of habeas corpus, issued by a judge of the suiDreme court 
itself, to be served." 

" In the State of Delaware there has been neither insurrection — revolt, 
nor contemplated revolt, by any citizen of the state against the government 
or its authority. The state has been perfectly peaceable. I suppose it is 
not disloyal to oppose an existing administration, to differ from it in opin- 
ion, to believe that the question of emancipation had better be left 
to be dealt with in the future, as it has been in the past, by individual 
states." 

"Loyalty is attachment to the laws and the Constitution of the country, 
and tested by that, I claim that the people of Delaware were what their 
natural position would make them, eminently Union men." "Why should 
citizens of Delaware have been arrested, and we be told that we are not 
entitled to inquire into it ? " "The doctrine of secession, the right of se- 
cession, has never been advocated in the state of Delaware." "They were 
arrested on that day at the place of election, as I understood, by order of 
Colonel Wallace, a commander of the home-guards of Maryland." "These 
men were arrested and have been held in confinement since the 7th day of 
October. Their friends have been unable to ascertain what they are con- 
fined for. No hearing has been allowed them ; no means of judicial appli- 
cation to test the ground of their arrest. "If the government persist in 
this system of arrests by discretion — it comes back to that — if the law of 
the land which the judiciary are bound to execute is put at defiance by the 
military power of the government, and if Congress will not, in the case of 
arrests, even call for the testimony and inform their own judgments," or 
whether this is a proper case for holding men in imprisonment for an inde- 
finite period of time, then of course we are living under just as despotic a 
government as existed in France in the time of Louis XIV." 

Mr. Doolittle: 

"There has been some complaint, and with more reason, perhaps, made 
against the government because it has been notoriously engaged, in sympathy 
and in act, too, with the traitors against the government ; and the complaint 
has been, not because suspected parties have been arrested, but because 
the guilty have not been shot or hung." — Cong. Globe 1862-63. pp. 18. 

Saulsbury : 

" These two are not the only men who have been arrested. Men from 
the adjoining state of Maryland, who, I understand, refused to go out of 
their own state to fight the battles of the country, are in the habit of com- 
ing over into my state and dragging oif peaceable, quiet citizens from their 
homes. It has not been two months since two of the citizens of my county 
came in the hour of night to my house to know how they could escape from 
the oppression of these Maryland home guards. The house of one of them 
was attacked, and a young man occupying his store was assaulted. An- 
other was compelled to flee from his own house to escape — what ? the Mary- 
land home guards." "But, sir, I tell the senate that at our last general 
election armed soldiery were sent to every voting place in the lower counties 
of the State of Delaware. When I went to vote myself,! had to walk between 
drawn sabres in order to deposit my ballot. Peaceable, quiet citizens, say- 
ing not a word, on their way to the polls, and before they had got to the 
election ground, were arrested and dragged out of their wagons and carried 
away. Peaceable, quiet citizens were assaulted at the polls." Mr. Powell: 
"Judge Duff, in one instance, in Illinois, was arrested by the Marshal and 
taken from his court where he was administering the laws, and lodged in 
the old Capitol prison here." Cong. Globe 1862-3. p. 1191. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 133 

General Grant's expulsion of the Jews, December 17, 1863. General 
Grant issued an order for the expulsion of the Jews in twenty-four hours. 

Mr. Powell ofiered the following resolution : 

"And whereas, by virtue of said order, the Jews, as a class, who claim 
to be loyal citizens of the United States, have been expelled from the city 
of Paducah, Kentucky, and have been driven from their business and homes 
by the military authority, without any specific charges having been made 
against them, or any opportunity given them to meet the vague and 
general charges set forth in said order: Therefore, 

Resolved by the senate of the United States, That the said order of 
Major- General Grant, expelling the Jews, as a class, from the department 
of which he is in command, is condemned as illegal, tyrannical, cruel, and 
unjust, and the President is requested to countermand the same." "I 
have in my possession documents that go to establish the fact beyond the 
possibility of a doubt that the Jews, residents of the city of Paducah, 
Kentucky, some thirty gentlemen in number, were driven from their homes 
and their business by virtue of this order of General Grant, only having the 
short notice of four and twenty hours ; that the Jewish women and children 
of that city were expelled under that order; that there was not a Jew left, 
man, woman, or child, except two women who were prostrate on beds of 
sickness." " These people are represented by the most respectable citizens 
of Paducah to be loyal men. Many of them are men who were not 
engaged in commerce. They were mechanics, attending to their daily 
avocations, at their homes." Let General Grant and all other military 
commanders know that they are not to encroach upon the rights and privi- 
leges of the peaceable loyal citizens of this country." "Many of these 
Jews, who were expelled from Paducah were known to me for many years 
as highly honorable and loyal citizens. This order expels them as a class 
jTom that entire department, and prevents their having a pass to approach 
Ms person to ask a redress of grievances." 

Mr. Hale and Mr. Sumner: "Why not table it ?"— Cong. Globe 1862-63, 
pp. 245-6. 

Vallandigham in his speech Feb. 23, 1863, said: 

" Sir, not many months ago, this administration in its great and tender 
mercy towards the six hundred and forty prisoners of State was a lad of 
fifteen, a newsboy upon the Ohio river, whose only offence proved, upon 
inquiry, to be that he owed fifteen cents the unpaid balance of a debt due 
to his washer- woman." "For four weary months the lad had lain in that 
foul and most loathsome prison, under military charge." — Cong. Globe 
1862-63, App. p. 176. 

Nov. 1862, France made a proposition to Russia and England to have 
these powers use their influence with the Washington and Confederate 
authorities for an armistice and peace. Peace and even foreign inter- 
vention had many advocates. Although the draft had been postponed 
several times, it was put in force — it was resisted in Wisconsin, in the fall 
of 1862. The rioters were arrested and were discharged on a writ of 
Habeas Corpus by the supreme court of the United States which pronounced 
it unconstitutional for the President to suppress the Writ of Habeas Corpus ! 
The Republican ; arty had from time to time called upon the President to 
remove every Democratic general who was opposed to "Lincoln's policy." 
Laboring under this pressure, General Buell was removed from command, 
on Octo' er 1862, although General Thomas had telegraphed to the authori- 
ties at Washington to reverse their action. — Headley vol. 2, p. 104. On the 
5th November, 1862, General McClellan was relieved by Burnside. The 
authorities at AVashington and the Republican party who had suffered a 



134 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

defeat at the recent elections, did not want a political opponent to hold the 
chief command of the army ! 

Biirnside found the army of the Potomac in three grand divisions under 
Sumner, Hooker, and Franklin. The army was indignant at the loss of its 
chief, and so was Burnside, who did not wish for the position and who 
openly declared that McClellan was the man fit for the command of the 
Potomac army or to match Lee. — Headley vol. 2, pp. 118-19-20. Burnside's 
plan was to advance on Richmond by Fredericksburg. — Lost Cause 340. 
The country was indignant for the base treatment of McClellan. But the 
fact of it was, the Republican party did not want any man, who was a Dem- 
ocrat and who did not adopt "Lincoln's policy," to be in command of the 
array. Lincoln said that the party who elected a President could put down 
the rebellion. Burnside was completely defeated at Fredericksburg by 
Lee. He walked into a trap. The country was greatly excited on hearing 
of the fatal disaster; but Lincoln and Stanton would not give up the control 
of the army to generals in the field but persistently marred their matured 
and well laid plans. The peace Democrats denounced the administration. 
They raised their voice against arbitrary and irresponsible arrests; they 
complained of the small success of the war party ; they protested against 
emancipation; they reminded Mr. Seward of the declarations made in 1862 
in his letter to Mr. Adams that such a measure "would re-invigorate the 
declining insurrection in every state of the south." — Lost Cause 361. The 
opposition to the administration can be gathered from Vallandigham's 
speech of January 14, 1863. 

"It is now two years. Sir, since Congress assembled soon after the 
Presidential election. A sectional anti-slavery party had been chosen 
upon a platform of avowed hostility to an institution peculiar to nearly one 
half of the States of the Union, and who had himself proclaimed that there 
was an irrepressible conflict because of that institution between the States; 
and that the Union could not endure "part slave and part free." Congress 
met therefore in the midst of the profoundest agitation, not here only but 
throughout the entire South. Revolution glared upon us. Repeated efibrts 
for conciliation and compromise were attempted in Congress and out 
of it. All were rejected by the party just coming into power, except only 
the promise in the last hours of the session, and that, too, against the 
consent of the majority of that party both in the senate and House; that 
Congress nor the executive should never be authorized to abolish or 
interfere with slavery in the states where it existed. South Carolina seceded ; 
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, speedily fol- 
lowed. The Confederate Government was established. The other slave 
states held back, Virginia demanded a peace Congress. The commissioners 
met, and after some time, agreed upon terms of final adjustment. But 
neither in the states nor the House were they allowed even a respectful 
consideration. 

The President elect left his home in February, and journeyed towards 
this capital, jesting as he came; proclaiming that the crisis was only arti- 
ficial, and that "nobody was hurt." He enteied this city under cover of 
night and in disguise. On the 4th of March he was inaugurated, surround- 
ed^'by soldiery; and, swearing to support the Constitution of the United 
States announced in the same breath that the platform of his party should 
be law unto him. 

From that moment all hope of peaceable adjustment fled. But for a lit- 
tle while, either with unsteadfast sincerity or in premeditated deceit, the 
policy of peace was proclaimed, even the evacuation of Sumter and the 
other Federal forts and arsenals in the seceded states. Why that policy 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 135 

was suddenly abandoned, time will disclose. But just after the spring elec- 
tions, and the secret meeting in this city, of the governors of several 
northern and western states, a fleet carrying a large number of men was 
sent down ostensibly to provision Fort Sumter. The authorities of South 
Carolina eagerly accepted the challenge, and bombarded the fort into sur- 
render, while the fleet fired not a gun, but, just as soon as the flag was 
struck, bore away and returned to the North. It was Sunday, the 14th of 
April, 1861, and that day the President in fatal haste and without the 
advice or consent of Congress, issued his proclamation, dated the next day, 
calling out seventy-five thousand militia for three months to repossess the 
forts, places, and property seized from the United States, and commanding 
the insurgents to disperse in twenty days. Again the gage was taken up 
by the South, and thus the flames of Civil war, the grandest, bloodiest, and 
saddest in history, lighted up the whole heavens. Virginia forthwith seced- 
ed; North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas followed; Delaware, Mary- 
land, Kentucky, and Missouri were in a blaze of agitation, and within a 
week from the proclamation, the line of the Confederate States was 
transferred from the cotton states to the Potomac, and almost to the Ohio 
and Missouri, and their population and fighting-men doubled. 

In the North and West, too, the storm raged with the fury of a hurricane. 
Never in history was any thing equal to it. Men, women, and children, 
native and foreign born, church and state, clergy and layman, were all 
swept along with the current. Distinction of age, sex, station, party per- 
ished in an instant. Thousands bent before the tempest ; and here and 
there only was one found bold enough, foolhardy enough it may have been, 
to bend not, and him it smote — fell as a consuming fire. The spirit of per- 
secution for opinion's sake, almost extinct in the old world, now, by some 
mysterious transmigration, appeared incarnate in the New ; Social relations 
were dissolved ; friendships broken up ; the ties of family and kindred 
snapped asunder. Stripes and hangings were everywhere threatened, some- 
times executed. Assassination was invoked ; slander sharpened his tooth; 
falsehood crushed truth to the earth ; reason fled ; madness reigned. Not 
justice only escaped to the skies, but peace returned to the bosom of God, 
whence she came. The gospel of love perished, hate sat enthroned, and 
the sacrifices of blood smoked upon every altar. 

But the reign of the mob was inaugurated only to be supplanted by the 
iron domination of arbitrary power. 

Constitutional limitation was broken down : habeas corpus fell ; liberty of 
the press, of speech, of the person, of mails, of travel, of one's own house, 
and of religion ; the right to bear arms, due process of law, judicial trial, 
trial by jury, trial at all ; every badge and muniment of freedom in Repub- 
lican government or kingly government — all went down at a blow, and the 
chief law ofiicers of the crown — I beg pardon, sir, but it is easy now to fall 
into this courtly language — the Attorney General, first of all men, proclaimed 
in the United States the maxim of Roman servility; whatever pleases the 
Preddent, that is law ! Prisoners of state were then first heard of here. Mid- 
night and arbitrary arrests commenced; travel was interdicted; trade em- 
bargoed ; passports demanded ; bastiles were introduced ; strange oaths in- 
vented; a secret police organized; "piping" began; informers multiplied; 
spies now first appeared in America. The right to declare war, to raise and 
support armies, and to provide and maintain a navy was usurped by the 
Executive; and in a little more than two months a land and naval force of 
over three hundred thousand men was in the field or upon the sea. An army 
of public plunderers followed, and corruption struggled with power in 
friendly strife for the mastery at home. 



136 CIYIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

On the 4th of July Congress met, not to seek peace ; not to rebuke usur- 
pation not to restrain power; not certainly to deliberate; not even to legis- 
late, but to register and ratify the edicts and acts of the Executive ; and in 
your language, sir, upon the first day of the sessions, to invoke a universal 
baptism of fire and blood amid the roar of cannon and the din of battle. 
Free speech was had only at the risk of a prison ; possibly life. Opposition 
was silenced by the fierce clamor of "disloyalty." All business not of war 
was voted out of order. 

"In twenty, at most in sixty days, the rebellion was to be crushed out. 
To doubt it was treason. Abject submission was deemed. Lay down your 
arms, sue for peace, surrender your leaders — forfeiture, death — this was the 
only language heard on the floor. The galleries responded; the corridors 
echoed ; and contractors and placemen and other venal patriots everywhere 
frowned upon the friends of peace as they passed by. In five weeks 
seventy-eight public and private acts and joint resolutions, with de- 
claratory resolutions, in the Senate and House, quite as numerous, all full 
of slaughter, were hurried through without delay and almost without 
debate." 

And now pardon me, sir, if I pause here a moment to define my own 
position at this time upon this great question, "Sir, I am one of the 
number who have opposed abolitionism, or the political development of 
the anti-slavery sentiment of the north and west, from the beginning, in 
school, at college, at the bar, in public assemblies, in the legislature, in 
Congress, boy and man as a private citizen and in public life, in time of 
peace, and in time of war." "But there was not an hour from the begin- 
ning when it did not seem to me as clear as the sun at broad noon, that the 
agitation in any form in the North and West of the slavery question must 
sooner or later end in disunion and civil war." 

"If was only a question of time, and short time. Such was its strength, 
indeed, that I do not believe that the Union of the Democratic party in 
1860, on any candidate, even though he had been supported also by the 
entire so-called conservative or anti-Lincoln vote of the country, would 
have availed to defeat it; and if it had, the success of the abolition party 
would only have been postponed four years longer." 

"The doctrine of the "irrepressible conflict" had been taught too long 
and accepted too widely and earnestly to die out, until it should culminate 
in secession and disunion; and, if coercion were resorted to, then in civil 
war. I believed from the first that it was the purpose of some of the 
apostles of the doctrine to force a collision between the North and South, 
either to bring about a separation or to find a vain but bloody protest for 
abolishing slavery in the states. In any event, I knew, or thought I knew, 
that the end was certain collision, and death to the Union. " 

"The Candidate of the Kepublican party was chosen President, secession 
began, civil war w^as imminent. It was no petty insurrection, no temporary 
combination to obstruct the execution of the laws in certain states : but a 
revolution, systematic, deliberate, determined, and with the consent of a 
majority of the people of each state which seceded." 

"It was disunion at last. The wolf had come. But civil war had not 
yet followed. In my deliberate and most solemn judgment there was but 
one wise and masterly mode of dealing with it. Non-coercion would avert 
civil war and compromise crush out both abolitionism and secession. The 
parent and the cliild would thus both perish. But a resort to force 
would at once precipitate war, hasten secession, extend disunion, and while 
it lasted, utterly cut off all hope of compromise. I believed that war, if long 
enough continued, would be final, eternal disunion." 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 137 

' ' But that party, most disastrously for the country, refused all compromise. 
How, indeed, could they accept, that which the South demanded and 
the Democratic and conservative parties of the North and West were will- 
ing to grant, and which alone could avail to keep the peace and save the 
Union, to inflict a surrender of the sole vital element of the party and its 
platform ; of the very principles, in fact, upon which it had just won the 
contest for the Presidency'^" Sir, the crime, the "high crime," of the 
Republican party was not so much its refusal to compromise, as its original 
organization upon a basis and doctrine wholly inconsistent with the stability 
of the constitution and the peace of the Union." 

" Sometime in March it was announced that the President had resolved to 
continue the policy of his predecessors and even go a step further, and 
evacuate Sumter and the other Federal forts and arsenals in the seceded 
states. His own party acquiesced, the whole country rejoiced." 

"I did not support the war, and to day I bless God that not the smell of 
so much as one drop of its blood is upon my garments." 

"The country was at war; and I belonged to the school of politics which 
teaches that when we are at war, the government — I do not mean the execu- 
tive alone, but the government — is entitled to demand and have, without 
resistance, such number of men, and such amount of money and supplies 
generally, as may be necessary for the war, until an appeal can be had to 
the people." 

"I meant that, without opposition, the President might take all the men 
and all the money he should demand, and then to hold him to a strict ac- 
countability before the people for the results. Kot believing the soldiers 
responsible for the war, or its purposes, or its consequences, I have never 
withheld my vote where their separate interests were concerned. But I have 
denounced from the beginning the usurpations and the infractions, one and 
all, of law and constitution, by the President and those under him, their 
repeated and persistent arbitrary arrests, their suspension of Habeas Corpus, 
the violation of freedom of the mails, of private houses, of the press and of 
speech and all other multiplied wrongs and outrages upon public liberty and 
private rights, which have made this country one of the worst despotisms 
on earth for the past twenty months; and I will continue to rebuke and 
denounce them to the end." 

"And did not the party of the Executive control the entire Federal 
Government, every state government, every county, every city, town 
and village in the North and West ? Was it patronage ? All be- 
longed to it. Was it influence? What more? Did not the -school, 
the college, the church, the press, the secret orders, the Mun- 
icipality, the corporations, railroads, telegraphs, express companies, the 
voluntary associations, all, all yielded it to the utmost." Was it unanimity ? 
Never was an administration so supported in England or America. Five 
men and half' a score of newspapers made up the opposition. Was it 
enthusiasm ? The enthusiasm was fanatical. There has been nothing like 
it since the Crusades. Was it confidence ? Sir, the faith of the people ex- 
ceeded that of the patriarchs. They gave up constitution, law, right, liberty, 
all, at your demand for arbitrary power that the rebellion might, as you 
promised, be crushed out in three months and the Union restored." * * 

"But in the beginning, the Roundhead outwitted the Cavalier, and by 
the skilful use of Slavery and the Negro united all, New England first, and 
afterwards the entire North and West, and finally sent out to battle against 
him Celt and Saxon, German and Knickerbocker, Catholic and Episcopa- 
lian, and even a part of his own household and of the descendants of his 
own stock." '^ * But we, also, of the North and West, in every state and 



138 CIYIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

by thousands, who have dared so much as to question the principles and 
policy, or doubt the honesty, of this administration and its party, have 
suffered everything that the worst despotism could inflict, except only loss 
of life itself upon the scaffold. Some even have died for the cause by the 
hand of the assassin." 

Shall we destroy the government because usurping tyrants have held 
possession and perverted it to the most cruel oppressions? 

''Stop fighting. Make an armistice— no formal treaty. Withdraw 
your army from the seceded states. Reduce both armies to a fair and 
sufficient peace establishment. Declare absolute free trade between the 
North and South. Buy and sell. Recall your fleets. Break up your 
blockade. Reduce your navy. Restore travel. Open railroads. " No 
more manitors and iron-clads, but set your friendly steamers and steam- 
ships again in motion. Visit the North and West. Vist the South. 
Exchange newspapers. Migrate, intermarry. Let slavery alone." Con- 
gressional Globe 1862-63. App. pp. 52-3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 

This was the the position taken by Mr. Vallandigham, which gave the 
Administration so much trouble; which caused him to be arrested and 
sent across the lines into the southern confederacy. These principles were 
adopted by many of the peace Democrats. History will give Mr. Vallan- 
digham credit for his honesty and candor, but as to his mode of settling 
the war question merely by an armistice, will lead to some grave and serious 
differences of opinion. Indeed in 1863, the South had gone so far that 
nothing would satisfy Jeff Davis short of independence — he wanted the 
South recognized as a separate government. 

Feb. 23, 1863, Mr. Vallandigham spoke against the conscription bill. 

" Sir, what are the bills which have passed, or are still before the House? 
The bill to give the President entire control of the currency — the purse of 
the country. A tax bill to clothe him wiih power over the whole property 
of the country. A bill to put all power in his hands over the personal liber- 
ties of the people. A bill to indemnify him, and all under him for every 
act of oppression and outrage already consummated. A bill to enable him to 
suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus, in order to justify or protect him, and 
every minion of his, in the arrests which he or they may choose to make — 
arrests too, for mere opinion's sake. And now, to-day, for opinions on 
questions political, under a free government, in a country whose liberties 
were purchased by our fathers by seven years' outpouring of blood and ex- 
penditure of treasures, we have lived to see men, the born heirs of this 
precious inheritance, subjected to arrests and cruel imprisonment at the 
caprice of a President or a secretary or a constable. And, as if that were 
not enough, a bill is introduced here to-day, and pressed forward to a vote, 
with the right to debate, indeed — extorted from you by the minority — but 
without the right to amend, with no more than the mere privilege of pro- 
test — a bill which enables the President to bring under his power, as com- 
mander-in-chief, every man in the United States between the ages of 
twenty and forty five — three millions of men. x\nd as if not satisfied with 
that, this bill provides, further, that every other citizen, man, woman, and 
child, under twenty years of age and even forty-five, including those that 
may be exempt between these ages, shall be also at the mercy — so far 
as his personal lib^erty is concerned — of some miserable "provost 
marshal." with the rank of captain of cavalry, who is never to see ser- 
vice in the field, and every Congressional district in the United States is 
to be governed — yes, governed — by this petty Satrap — this military eunuch 
— this^Baba — and he even may be black — who is to do the bidding of your 
sultan." 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 139 

What is it, sir, but a bill to abrogate the constitution, to repeal all exist- 
ing laws, to destroy all rights, to strike down the judiciary, and erect upon 
the ruins of civil and political liberty a stupendous superstructure of des- 
potism ? And for what ? To enforce the law ? No, sir. It is admitted 
now by the legislation of Congress, and by the two proclamations of the 
President, it is admitted by common consent, that the war is for the aboli- 
tion of Negro slavery, but others openly and candidly confess that the 
purpose of the prosecution of the war is to abolish slavery." The freedom 
of the Negro is to be purchased, under this bill, at the sacrifice of every 
right of the white men of the United States. " Sir, I have done now with 
my objections to this bill. I have spoken as though the constitution 
survived, and was still the supreme law of the land." " Give us known 
and fixed laws, give us the judiciary; arrest us only upon due process of 
law; give us presentment and indictment by grand juries; speedy and 
public trial; trial by jury;" secure us in our persons, our houses, our 
papers, and our effects;" give us free speech and a free press, free and un- 
disturbed elections and the ballot; take our sons, take our money, our 
property.— Cong. Globe 1862-63. App. pp. 172-3-4-5-6-7. The 
Republican papers all over the land denounced Vallandigham for this 
speech as a traitor. They said that he was aiding the Rebels by opposing 
and discouraging enlistments. The peace Democracy hailed this speech 
with applause. 

January 1, 1863, the President issued the emancipation proclamation. It 
was opposed by the conservatives of the north, but hailed with joy by the 
Radicals. This measure drove the south to desperation — it drove the 
southern union men into the Confederate army by thousands. This made 
the Confederates fight with desperation at Fredericksburg, Murfreesboro, 
and Vicksburg. Jeff Davis issued his proclamation (as an offset to Lincoln's 
emancipation proclamation), threatening to hang all northern officers who 
aided slaves to escape. Tiiis proclamation of President Lincoln, with other 
acts of his administration, was worth to the south more than a million of men ! ! 

Northern papers said, that in consequence of the President's emancipation 
proclamation, making the war an anti-slavery one — the corruption and in- 
efficacy of the administration, that there was a great feeling throughout the 
country to sever the Middle and Western States from New England. The 
army became greatly demoralized in consequence of the war taking an 
abolition turn; the removal of McClellan; the defeat of Burnside at Fred- 
ericksburg; defeat of the union army at Murfreesboro; the corruption of 
vile contractors — an other cause of grievance was that the soldiers were 
many months without pay: while their families were in want, while, at the 
same time, officers and contractors, who had big pa}^, were promptly paid! 
In the army of the Potomac, alone, as many as 350 officers were absent at 
one time— absentees from the northern army were about 100 per day, deser- 
tion was also very large; as many of the volunteers were sick of the war 
when they saw that it was the "rich man's war and the poor man's fight! " 

May 5, 1863, Vallandigham was arrested by order of General Burnside, 
at his residence, in Dayton, Ohio. The oflace of the Dayton Journal was 
destroyed by a Radical mob. 

May 11, 1863, the Buell court of inquiry adjourned, after a session of 165 
days. May 25, 1863, Mr. Vallandigham was delivered over to the rebels, at 
Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This was a most stupendous outrage and 
stretch of despotic power. This was a relic of barbarism and in full keep- 
ing with the odious alien and sedition laws, which made the name of 
John Adams hateful to the American people. But the administration was 
now prepared for any measure which would crush all opposition. For this 



140 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

purpose it trampled under foot every particle of American liberty. Eepub- 
licans copied Irom the Cromwellians and the Red Republicans of France ! 
General Lovell, after the fall of New Orleans, ordered the defence of 
Vicksburg. And to Yan Dorn, in the summer of 1862, was assigned the 
defence of Vicksburg. This was a great blunder on the part of General 
Butler, for immediately after the fall of New Orleans he could have cap- 
tured Yicksburg and Port Hudson. But he wasted his time in the "spoon 
business " in New Orleans and in amassing a large fortune. He preferred 
himself to his country — indeed the Republicans were more for themselves 
than for their country. His god was his ambition. For he would be 
either ^ Democrat, Republican or rebel as it suited his ambitious views. 
This was characteristic of the Butler family, even in Ireland ! 

The "Beast" would be Jew, Turk, Christian or Heathen, as it might 
suit the times ! If Jefferson Davis could subvert the Union and erect on 
its ruins an empire, Butler would be his instrument of imperial oppression. 
He was a curse to the Union cause — for had he shown as much patriotism, as 
he displayed a greed for the accumulation of filthy lucre, he would have cap- 
tured Port Hudson and the works of Vicksburg. By such means he could 
have saved the lives of thousands and he could have saved millions of dol- 
lars afterwards lost in the capture of these places. But though Butler was 
fond of fame, his love of gold drowned every other impulse ! The acquisi- 
tion of wealth was his leading aim — his great passion and moral weakness. 

We have said that Butler could have taken Port Hudson and Yicksburg 
before they were fortified. Porter had advised the government at Washing- 
ton, of the necessity of fortifying these strongholds. That the Confederates 
were fortifying them. He urged the necessity of stopping them. He even 
offered with a thousand men and his gunboats to hold and occupy these 
places. "But the year 1862 was a year of blunders on the part of the war 
department and of great disasters in the field. The army of the Potomac 
had been driven from Richmond, on one hand, and from the Rapidan, on 
the other and shattered into fragments on the heights of Fredericksburg: 
Buell had been forced back from Chattanooga to Nashville and Morgan com- 
pelled to evacuate Cumberland Gap ; and to close up the sad record. Port 
Hudson had been allowed to become wellnigh impregnable, — Headley vol. 
2, p. 149. The campaign of 1863 was resumed early, as Lincoln was ap- 
prehensive that the Democrats would gain further strength as they had in 
the fall elections in consequence of the multitudinous blunders of the ad- 
ministration. He was now preparing for the presidential campaign of 1864. 
He knew that it was necessary to gain some decisive success. To gain the sup- 
port and confidence of the people success was necessary, as the term of service 
of many of the Union soldiers would soon expire. General Hooker was 
raised from corps-commander to that of general-in-chief. "Fighting Joe 
Hooker made himself famous in the newspapers by his criticism of 
McClellan's campaign. He said he would capture Richmond if in McClellan's 
place. Fighting Joe Hooker, having by this idle bravado obtained the 
command of the Potomac army, crossed the Rappahannock and was, not- 
withstanding' his previous boasting, most beautifully whipped at the battle 
of Chancellorsville, though he had boasted that Lee's army was the legiti- 
mate property of the army of the Potomac." — Headley vol. 2, p. 186. Lee 
with an army of sixty thousand whipped Hooker, who had under his 
command one hundred and fifty thousand men. —Headley vol. 2, p. 189. 
Grant spent weeks digging a canal, to turn the Mississippi from its old course 
so as to leave Yicksburg high and dry. Although the Republicans ridiculed 
McClelian for digging in the swamps of the Chickahominy, yet they lauded 
Grant to the skies although he had spent time and money with his army in 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 141 

digging a canal which proved a total failure and a monument of human 
folly. Yet, there was neither censure nor criticism from the Radical press. 
On the contrary, they called it a great stroke of military strategy. The 
people heard with impatience for weeks ' digging still.' After a display of 
military ignorance and stupidity Grant found his novel plan of turning the 
JMississippi into a canal a failure and a stupendous blunder ! As he had no 
' policy of his own ' he had the support of the Radicals, who branded as 
copperheads and traitors and rebel sympathizers all who found fault with 
Grant's military blunders. This canal might be called 'Grant's folly.' — 
Headley vol. 2, p. 149-50. 

On the failure of diverting the floods of the "great father of water" 
into the "grant Canal," Grant attempted, by the aid of Porter's fleet, to 
capture Yicksburg, by going up the Yazoo River and capturing Haines 
Bluff and by this means get into the rear of Yicksburg. He failed in 
this project, as completely, as at Belmont, in his famous Canal business: so 
after much labor he had to abandon this project. He also failed to get 
in the rear of Yicksburg by way of the " Black Bayou." — Headley vol. 2, p. 
137. 

Failing in these attempts to capture Yicksburg, Grant was forced to 
adopt the McClellan plan, so much condemned by the Republican press, 
and so much condemned and ridiculed by Pope and Hooker, to build 
Corduroy bridges over the Swamps on the west side of the Mississippi, and 
by the cooperation of Admiral Porter's gunboats, got his transports past 
the batteries of Yicksburg while the forces passed by land. Porter with 
his gunboats ran the transports past the rebel batteries and Grant got his 
army in the rear of Yicksburg. 

He took Yicksburg after a long and bloody siege. The country around 
Yicksburg as far as Jackson was made one vast graveyard. Yast numbers of 
lives would have been saved but for the stupidity of General Batler, who pre- 
ferred reaping a rich harvest of gold and silver at New Orleans ; and thus 
neglected to take Port Hudson and Yicksburg, which Porter said could be 
taken by his gunboats and a thousand men ; so that Stanton, Halleck, and 
Butler are responsible for the lives of thousands of brave Union soldiers, 
who fell in the memorable siege of Yicksburg. They made by their wicked 
and culpable negligence, widows and orphans, by thousands, and brought 
desolation and woe to thousands of families ! The fall of Yicksburg now 
opened the Mississippi to the Union army. The Union Steamboats had 
control of the river, cutting the Confederacy in two. The fall of Yicksburg 
and the defeat at Gettysburg, hastened the overthrow of the Confederacy. 



CHAPTER XYI. 



The south had now sufi"ered from the depreciation of her currency. The 
amount of specie in the south at the commencement of the war was about 
thirty millions in the banks and about fifty millions in currency. — Lost 
Cause, 421. As early as January, 1862, a dollar in gold was worth in Rich- 
mond one dollar and twenty cents in currency. In July, 1862, it was 
worth the same. Now, in January, 1863, one dollar in gold was worth three 
dollars and ten cents in currency. Remorseless speculators had succeeded 
in monopolizing and engrossing most of the entire stock of the necessaries 
and comforts of life, which they held at exorbitant prices. Even the nail 



143 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

factories were in the hands of a few speculators, who sold nails at exorbi- 
tant prices. There was also a monopoly of salt, which was sold at fifty 
cents per pound. — Lost Cause, 427-8. Indeed, one of the principal causes 
of the failure of the southern confederacy was speculation, both by monop- 
olists and even the authorities, who sold cotton for greenbacks; thus 
depreciating and breaking down their own currency; as the people saw that 
the leaders had lost faith in their own money and that the cause of the 
Confederates was failing ! 

On the 4th of July, 1863, was fought the great battle of Gettysburg. Lee 
was compelled to fall back and retreated from Pennsylvania. He saved his 
artillery, with the exception of two or three guns, though he left twenty-five 
thousand small arms in the fields and woods. He crossed the Cumberland 
Mountains towards the Potomac, followed by Gen. Sedgwick. General 
French destroyed his pontoon train, at Falling Waters. — Headley vol. 3, 
page 207. 

General Meade allowed Lee to escape and gave him time to cut timber 
and construct bridges to cross his army over the Potomac ; when he could 
have captured his whole army. Yet the Republicans denounced McClellan 
the year before for not capturing Lee at about the same point, after Lee's 
retreat from the battle field of Antietam ! — Headley vol. 2, pp. 208-9. 

This is Republican honesty ! 

The Republicans employed the colored troops although it gave great 
offence to the north. For many of the northern soldiers did not want Negro 
equality. They knew that if the Negroes were made soldiers they would 
be made citizens. The Republicans told the country that the Negro 
soldiers were superior to the white soldiers, their object being to prepare 
the country for Negro equality. July 30, 18G3, the President issued an 
order that no distinction should be made, in the exchange of prisoners on 
account of color. 

Although the Republicans professed great love for the Negroes during 
the war, yet they were ill treated by the government agents. The Negroes 
complained that they were treated worse by the Northern authorities than 
they were by their masters. Many of them returned to their masters rather 
than endure the sufferings and hardships of the government camps ! About 
Natchez they were reduced from 4000 to 2000, by exposure, filth, and dis- 
ease brought on from various causes. In 1864, the report of Yoeman, 
President of the Western Sanitary Commission, as given in the New York 
Tribune shows the frightful condition of the great number of Africans scatter- 
ed along the Mississippi from Cairo to Natchez. More than the barracoons of 
the African coast or the horrors of the middle passage, this shows an awful 
inhuman record of hunger and death. 

The kidnapping of Negroes by members of the Loyal League, who made 
large fortunes by this inhuman practice of selling Negroes for cotton. 
Many northern officers went into raising cotton along the Mississippi and 
cheated the poor Negroes out of the fruits of their labor ; yet, they were 
loyal. The Republicans had no more love for Africans than to merely use 
them for party purposes. They sacrificed the welfare of the Negro and the 
liberty of the country, honesty, honor and principles for office and power ! 
The American people had from time to time denounced the despotism of 
the monarchs of Europe; now, strange to say, the administration had courted 
the despotic power of Russia, the oppression of down-trodden Poland ! 
The Russians were banqueted in New York, in 1863. The Republicans 
had stooped so low as to make an ally of Russia! 

The great flood of "greenbacks," government paper currency, drove gold 
and silver out of circulation. The government issued postage currency as 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 143 

low as five cents. Every one in 1862, issued his own money. Barbers and 
saloon keepers issued scrip " good for one shave," or "good at this bar for 
one glass of beer." The government violated the constitution by making 
]3aper currency a legal tender. It was unjust to those, who lent money be- 
fore the passage of this law, to make greenbacks a legal tender. This paper 
became so depreciated that one dollar in gold would buy $2.90 in greenbacks. 
This was a palpable swindle. This was robbing the creditor who lent his 
money in gold and now had to take depreciated currency ; it also robbed 
the soldiers. One great cause of depreciation of the currency was occasioned 
by the blunders of northern Generals ; and the intermeddling of the aboli- 
tionists, who drove the south to desperation for it was feared that the war 
would be prolonged until the public debt would be equal to that of Great 
Britain. Men of capital feared that the debt would not be paid. In 1863, 
the administration and Congress proposed to abolish the state banks and to 
establish United States Banks. For this purpose they legislated the state 
banks out of existence, by means of taxation. 

All who spoke of the rights of the states, were denounced by the Radicals 
as traitors and copperheads. They held that the general government could 
swallow up the state governments. We give Jefierson's opinion on the 
rights of the States: "We should marshal the government into, 1st, the 
general Federal Republic for all concerns foreign and Federal ; 2d, that of 
the state, for what relates to our own citizens exclusively." — Jefferson's 
Works vol. 7, p. 13. 

But, what cared the Radicals for the opinions of either Jefferson or 
Washington? they followed the example of British statesmen and the blue- 
light Federalists! The old Federal and Whig party passed a high pro- 
tective tariff; by this means the farmers were taxed to support the looms 
of New England. The Democratic party complained of this unjust measure. 
But the Radicals had the army and navy, the purse and the sword at their 
backs, and by means of arbitrary arrests drowned all opposition. In vain 
did the western papers complain that the east had oppressed the south and 
west. The Radicals claimed that it was for the benefit of the whole coun- 
try that the people should be taxed to sustain New England and Pennsyl- 
vaftia. Those they could not intimidate were bought up and Congressmen 
were bought and sold like oxen in the shambles. Corruption and bribery 
was the order of the day. The Democrats were denounced for their oppo- 
sition to the tariff. They were called traitors, rebels, and copperheads ! 
We give Jefferson's opinion on the tariff: 

"An equilibrium of agriculture, manufactures and commerce, is certainly 
becoming essential to our independence." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 5, p. 448. 
Thus we see that Thomas Jefferson considered agriculture as the most 
essential branch of industry. For all branches of industry depend on the 
prosperity of the farmers. But the Radicals who have followed the foot- 
prints of the Federalists, want to sacrifice the farmers to the interests of 
the manufacturers. Jefierson spoke of the policy of the Federalists in 
trying "to convert this great agricultural country into a city of Amsterdam. 

The expense of the war had now assumed vast proportions. The people 
were alarmed at the expense of the war ; but the Radicals reiterated Pitt's 
false doctrine that a "Public debt is a public blessing;" thus following 
in the wake of British Statesmen and American Federalists. Thev 
followed Hamilton's plan to make the public debt eternal. They issued 
bonds bearing interest in gold and some bearing compound interest. The 
ultimate design of the disciples of Hamilton has been to fund the public 
debt, the same as in England; so as to create a money king and afterwards 
a monarchy. We give Jefferson's opinion of a public debt: — 



144 CIYIL GOVEKNMENT OF THE STATES. 

"I consider the fortunes of our Republic as depending, in an eminent 
degree on the extinguishment of the public debt. — Jefferson's Works vol. 5, 
p. 478. "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We 
must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and 
servitude." Jefferson's Works, vol. 7, p. 14. 

Again he speaks of ' ' emancipation of our posterity from that moral 
canker, it is an encouragement, fellow-citizens, of the highest order to 
proceed as we have begun in establishing economy for taxation." Jeffer- 
son's Works, vol. 8, p. 19. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



In the political campaign of 1863, the peace Democracy denounced the 
administration for employing Negro soldiers and suppressing the freedom of 
speech and of the free press, for suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus and 
trial by jury. The unconstitutional acts of the administration were boldly 
denounced by the peace Democrats, through the press and at public meet- 
ings — for the people were, even now, tired of the war, in consequence of 
draft, military blunders, and the corruption of the government. The reign 
of terror inaugurated by Loyal Leaguers who were nothing less than the 
old " Wide- Awakes, who were Know-Nothings in disguise. The Loyal 
Leaguers became the nucleus of the "Grand Army of the Republic." The 
people called public meetings for the purpose of adopting some peace 
measures. The army was tired of the war and the corruption of army 
contractors and speculators. But the Republican army, who were adverse 
to peace, introduced a resolution in Congress, to the effect that no com- 
promise should be made with rebels in arms. That the Republicans would 
not accept of any proposition short of an unconditional surrender of the 
Confederate Army and its leaders to the Federal authorities. This they 
well knew would never be accepted by the Confederate authorities, while 
they had a large army in the field and many strongholds in their possession. 
The truth of the matter is the Republicans did not want peace with the 
South until they had crushed out slavery and had put the Negro on terms 
of equality with the white man, until they had weakened the power of the 
South and the Democratic party, and had perpetuated the power of the 
Radicals. The administration and Congress having now the war power, 
the purse, and the sword, the loyal governors and the State Legislatures, 
threw off the mask and avowed their policy. The Republicans carried the 
election by force, fraud, and corruption even at the point of the bayonet, 
when necessary ! Indeed, they were apt scholars. They followed Napoleon's 
plan of carrying the election by military force. They applied all the means 
used in England to corrupt or intimidate voters. Schenck carried the 
election in Maryland and Delaware, this year, at the point of the bayonet. 
Headley, vol. 2, p. 283. 

By corruption, bribery, force, frauds, and military power, the Lincoln 
party carried the elections, this year, from Maine to Minnesota. After the 
result of this election was known, Lincoln wrote that " the crisis was past. 
The authorities at Washington now openly laid the constitution aside. 
They looked for precedents to the monarchs of Europe and imperial Rome. 
Although Vallandigham, of Ohio, the leader of the peace Democrats was 
arrested and banished beyond the Rebel lines, he was now allowed to get 
back and run for governor. For Lincoln and the Republican party wanted 
some pretext to connect the Democrats with the rebellion. Indeed they 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 145 

wanted to make the Democrats responsible for the war. They wanted to con- 
found the Vallandigham Democrats with the rebels. This trick succeeded 
and helped to defeat the Democracy ! — Headley vol. 2, 465. In 1862, while 
Cameron was secretary of war, he used the machinery of his office to make 
a fortune. He engaged in various speculations. 

There were, at the commencement of the war, two railroad lines from New 
York to Washington; one direct through Philadelphia and the other by 
way of Harrisburg, which is the longer route by 80 miles. The bridges^ 
were burnt within the limits of Maryland at the breaking out of the 
rebellion. Cameron expended 14,000 dollars in repairing his own road, the 
other railroad company repaired its own bridges. This put 14,000 dollars 
into the pockets of Cameron's friends. He had the troops and supplies 
shipped over the road from Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Baltimore, a dis- 
tance of one hundred miles longer than the other road. He amassed, 
while secretary of war, ten millions of dollars and for his pains and de- 
votion to his country was made minister to Russia. With this vast 
fortune he was able to control the Pennsylvania Legislature! 

Cameron placed in the hands of his pet, $2,000,000, to be used as this 
man might deem fit. A few days after this transaction, this pet drew a 
quarter of a million of dollars, and put 160,000 dollars of it in his own 
name^ in a New York Bank, in the city of New York, and 90,000 dollars 
was put into the hands of another pet to meet such expenses as he should 
make. These were the competent and reliable agents of the secretary of 
war, Simon Cameron. Not even was the oath of office taken or any secur- 
ity given, by these Cameronian agents, to the government for the faithful 
performance of the official duties. This shows a gross, reckless and 
fraudulent expenditure of the public money; which helped to build monu- 
ments of debt. Cameron by shipping troops and supplies over his own road 
gained fifty per cent, profit in one year, which came out of the government. 
But, he was loyal.— App. Cong. Globe, 1861-2, pp. 131-2-3-4-5. 

The secretary of the Navy gave his pet a commission for the purchase of 
vessels. To illustrate how the sales were conducted the Daylight and the 
Dawn^ two vessels bought from the Secretary's "eminent merchants," one 
of them originally cost $45,000 and the other $55,000. They were char- 
tered by the government till one of them realized $40,000, and the other 
$30,000. The government paying the expense of repairs and insuring them 
against perils. Then the secretary's pet purchased the two vessels ; for the 
one he had paid what the vessel cost four years before, and for the other 
within $10, 000 of what it originally cost. So the owners of the vessels gained 
$80,000 and the full cost of his vessels. The government agent received 
2i per cent on all sales. The more he gave for the vessels the greater the 
percentage. Thousands of cases of this description might be cited but this 
will suffice to show how the national debt was piled up. Besides the per- 
centage, the agent had a salary of $70,000 per annum from the government. 

Such wholesale plunder of the treasury is unknown in the annals of his- 
tory !!— App. Cong. Globe 1861-2, pp. 135-6. 

A New York Broker made the sum of $10,000, in the sale of a vessel, under 
this worthy agent. There was no question asked as to the quality of the vessel, 
but was the broker loyal — a Republican. In this fraudulent and corrupt 
manner the secretary of the navy gave a member of bis own household the 
enormous sum of $95,000, in five months !! 

Any Democrat who was bold enough to denounce this corruption of the 
government was pronounced disloyal and a traitor. — App. Cong. Globe, 
1861-2, p. 136. Gen. Fremont got a grab from the treasury: in the pur- 
chase of arms. He gained in one transaction $51,225. He bought a lot of 



146 CIVIL GOYERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

old Hall Carabines for $3,50 each and sold them to the government for the 
sum of $2'/i,00 each. This scheme of plunder gave him in all Fifty-one- 
thousand dollars. But, he was loyal! — App. Cong. Globe, 1861-2, p. 136. 
The same General Fremont was the Republican Candidate for President, in 
1856, and the Radical Candidate for President in 1864. He, also, while 
in command at St. Louis made money in building worthless fortifications. 
This is Republican honesty — a premium for corruption. What wonder 
that the Republicans wished to conceal from the people the true amount 
of the public debt. For the people now found that a public debt was not 
a public blessing. • * 

" We don't feel the war! " was the cry of Contractors and Speculators, 
in our large cities, while the country suffered from misery and the fearful 
havoc of war. Such w^as the cry among those who made fortunes with 
marvelous rapidity and spent it in pleasure and extravagance. They cared 
but little for the tears of the widow or the orphan. While the wealth of 
the country was poured out, fortunes were made by the money-seekers. 
While brave fellows rushed in multitudes to defend the dear old flag, 
speculators had a rich field to make vast and rapid fortunes out of army 
clothing and subsistence contracts for provisions, mules, horses, railway 
conveyance, steamers, ships, coals, surgical instruments, drugs, and every 
thing to sustain or destroy life. The government did not care much about 
quality or price but gave the whole thing up to some favorite individuals 
who made vast fortunes in a day. Political and social friends and relatives 
were favored with information where there could be made a good "grab." 
Partisans, brothers, cousins, and brothers-in-law came in first for the* 
biggest prizes. Some of them made a hundred thousand dollars in one 
transaction! by merely signing their names! They even made snug fortunes 
by the mere transfer of their contracts. They cared nothing for the quality 
of the thing, so long as it bore the name. Thus came this villainous shoddy 
— the refuse and sweepings of the shops, pounded, rolled, and glued, and 
hastily got up as clothing for the soldiers. The shoddyites in a few months 
erected palatial residences, had splendid coaches, perfumed clothes and 
glistening silks. Others made fortunes in old spavined horses and mules, 
and all this was accomplished by collusion and favoritism! 

Now came the time for clearing out the refuse of the armories — even 
where some of the arms were returned by the ordnance department, yet, by 
bribery they would be accepted. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were 
spent on worthless arms. One merchant gained two millions of dollars in 
this speculation in one year. Some coal-miners made such fortunes out of 
the government, that in a single year dividends amounted to two-thirds of 
its capital. Men who were bankrupts a few months before suddenly could 
count their fortunes by millions. This caused a mania for speculation, 
pervading the whole community. The cry was, What is the price of gold 
to-day ? 

The sudden flow of wealth on contractors and speculators, brought on 
profusion never before seen in the country. Stables were built of marble, 
costly furniture, clothes, and silks were imported in abundance. Foreign 
luxury was the order of the day, men buttoned their waistcoats with 
diamonds, and women powdered their hair with gold and silver dust. This 
had an injurious eflect on the morals of the people. This rage for wealth 
is fast taking hold of all classes — many, very many care little about the 
means of getting riches to spend in luxury. This class certainly did not 
feel the war so long as there was a prospect of making money out of it — no 
one seemed to care for the country or for its welfare. Any one who should 
speak against this waste of the people's money, was called a copperhead, 



CONSTITUTIONAL IIISTOIiY OF UNITED STATES. 147 

traitor and rebel sympathizer — they could give thousands to partisan news- 
papers and stump speakers for denouncing those who were in favor of peace. 

Although we have incidentally spoken of arbitrary arrest we devote fur- 
ther space to this topic; during the reign of terror and the unconstitutional 
and dictatorial career of the administration no one was deemed safe from 
illegal arrest, who differed with the party in power, in politics or other- 
wise. The mere suspicion of being disaffected to the administration, was 
enough to be arrested and sent to some military prison, even without 
charges being preferred. In these evil days of discretionary power, under 
the tyrant's plea of "military necessity," to criticise the government or 
"Lincoln's policy," was punished with incarceration in a military dungeon. 
Mr. Seward held that to differ with the administration, was to oppose the 
Federal government. In this reign, Lincoln was the government; but 
when President Johnson differed with the Radicals, then "Congress was 
the government." These illegal and arbitrary arrests and imprisonments w^ere 
made to crush all Democratic opposition; to break down the spirit of the 
people, so as to make them fit subjects for future military despotism and 
unconstitutional acts and to reduce the southern states to mere territories ! 
During the first seven months of the war four hundred persons were 
arrested at the mere tinkle of Mr. Sew^ard's "little bell." Did the founders 
of the government ever think that a mere secretary of state should assume 
powers, which even eclipsed the tyranny of the star-chamber during its 
worst days ? Mr. Seward issued an order that the names of the parties 
arrested should not be published— enormous arrests were made in Kentucky, 
Missouri and Maryland. More than ten thousand persons were arrested 
by Seward's omnipotent "little bell." Thousands were doomed to remain 
in government bastiles without knowing the cause of their arrest. To 
prevent persons from inquiring into the cause of their arrest, Seward 
issued the following ominous order, that "the United States will not 
recognize any one as attorney for political prisoners, and will look icith 
distrust upon all applications for release through such channels, and that 
such applications will be regarded as additional reason for declining to 
release the prisoners." Thus people were punished for inquiring why they 
were torn from their houses, families, and friends and shut up in military 
dungeons. Republicans called this liberty; and all who complained of 
such arrests were denounced as traitors, copperheads and rebel sympathizers 
— all this was done by a party that claimed to be the law and order party. 
Not in one single instance, was any of the thousands who were arrested 
brought to trial in the courts, or an accusation filed or an indictment 
found. In all these cases of arbitrary arrests, we have confined ourselves 
to those made in the free states. Democrats in the northern states, who 
had the manhood to criticise the policy of Lincoln and his officials were 
arrested for exercising their right of free speech. Indeed, during the war free 
speech was suppressed at the point of the bayonet ! 

Editors of newspapers, who differed with the administration were ar- 
rested upon spurious charges of not supporting the administration; "dis- 
couraging enlistments;" "writing treason;" "being a prominent Demo- 
crat;" "publishing treasonable articles;" the displeasure of the loyal 
authorities ; " "publishing articles distasteful" to the Lincoln administration ; 
"for speaking freely of the draft. 

Democrats were incarcerated in the government bastiles merely for 
making Democratic speeches— on charges of " disloyalty "—on charge of 
sympathy with secession" — for cheering for Yallandigham — using 
seditious language" — "publicly expressing disloyal sentiments "—for 
being a newspaper correspondent — for condemning the policy of Lincoln — 



148 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

for refusing to take the oath of allegiance — for publicly opposing Lincoln's 
administration— for disapproving of Lincoln's Emancipation proclamation — 
for saying that Lincoln's emancipation was "unwise, impolitic, and 
uncalled for" — for being seen to "smile over a rebel victory" — for 
not ' ' praying for Lincoln " — for making speeches in favor of the 
Democratic party" — several persons were arrested and sent to prison 
without ever knowing the cause of their arrest — lawyers were arrested for 
merely prosecuting Republicans. Clergymen were seized at the altar, with 
prayer-book, in hand, while praying to their Maker, and dragged out of 
Church ! Hon. C. L. Vallandigham was arrested by order of General 
Burnside, May 5, 1863, charged with "declaring disloyal sentiments and 
opinions." He was one of the leading members of Congress who opposed 
Lincoln's administration. He was tried by a military commission, while the 
courts of the coUTitry were open. He was found guilty, in direct violation of 
the Constitution of the United States. He was sentenced to be imprisoned in 
Fort Warren during the war. This sentence was commuted to banishment ; 
a sentence unknown to the laws ! Heretofore no one ever thought that the 
government would enforce such a vile act of despotism. This was, indeed, 
a revival of the alien and sedition laws with a vengeance, which had 
proved the political death of the John Adams blue-light Federal party; 
but under a worse system, for Adams and his blue lights had an act of 
Congress to give them color of power, authority; but the administration and 
its political friends had no law but that of the iDayonet. For Thomas Jef- 
ferson and the Democratic party had swept the alien and sedition laws 
from the Statute books. 

Rev. James L. Vallandigham of Delaware, was arrested, July 1863, on 
account of his name — men were arrested for merely having relations in the 
Rebel army! On the 13th September, 1861, the Maryland Legislature was 
arrested. In May, 1862, by mere order of G-eneral Dix, Judge Carmichael 
was assailed, while on the bench in open court, beaten and knocked down, 
and dragged from the court house bleeding and senseless, and sent to Fort 
La Fayette. For in the exercise of his judicial duties, he charged the 
grand jury of his country, that Lincoln had not authority to order arbitrary 
arrests. Ex-Governor Morehead, of Kentucky, without any charge was 
dragged from his bed, at night, and sent to Fort La Fayette. A news- 
paper called the Kent Conservator^ was suppressed by order of Gen- 
eral Lockwood for commenting on General Schenck's treatment of the 
women of Baltimore ; The New York FreemarCs Journal was suppressed and 
its editor McMasters sent to Fort La Fayette. Mahony, editor of the 
Dubuque Herald, was arrested merely for being a Democrat, and sent to the 
Capitol prison at Washington. The editor of the St. Louis Christian 
Advocate was arrested for publishing what was then called by the party in 
power, treasonable articles and the paper suppressed. It was deemed 
treason to differ with the administration! Several other papers were 
suppressed either by the government or the Republican mob. For, as in the 
time of Cromwell and the reign of terror in France, the mob and the gov- 
ernment concluded to put down free speech and a free press! 

G. W. Porter secretary of the board of trade, Baltimore, was arrested, in 
1862, and sent to Fort La Fayette for repeating an account of one of 
McClellan's battles. The Police Commissioners of Baltimore were sent to 
Fort La Fayette, in 1861. Ex-Senator Gwin of California, was arrested, in 
1861, at Panama, by General Sumner, and sent to Fort La Fayette, on 
charge of " publicly expressing disloyal sentiments." Thus, the adminis- 
tration crushed out all manner of opposition. What right had a general, 
merely on his own motion, to arrest outside of the United States, any one 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 149 

for words spoken ? Several clergymen were arrested for refusing to pray for 
the President of the United States. The Rev. Robinson of Kentucky, was 
banished to Canada for not supporting the w^ar. The administration had 
no scruples as to the manner of crushing out all opposition, Gibson, a prom- 
inent Democrat of Illinois, was arrested, in 1862, and sent to Cairo; thence 
to St. Louis and incarcerated. He was brought before the provost marshal 
and questioned as to what he thought of Lincoln's administration and if he 
thought that the President had violated the Constitution. Not giving satis- 
factory answers he was held in durance vile for three months. 

Dr. Ross of Illinois was arrested, m 1863, for merely drawing his finger 
across his nose — others were imprisoned merely on the frivolous charge of 
"conspiring against the government." For being "secessionists." For 
having "secession proclivities," on charge of being "knights of the golden 
circle." For being " sons of liberty." And in many instances at the mere 
whim or caprice of the administration or the military authorities! 

The judiciary of New York and. Maryland have pronounced the illegal 
arrests of the President and his cabinet and of the northern generals uncon- 
stitutional! After the defeat of the administration, in the fall elections 
of 1862, the adiiiinistration seeing that arbitrary arrest and usurpation were 
condemned by the popular vote released the prisoners in Fort Warren 
and La Fayette, among whom was a boy only sixteen years old, who had 
been arrested on mere suspicion. But, after the Republicans became again 
successful at the elections, by force, fraud, and corruption, they resumed 
the reign of terror and arrested and imprisoned on mere suspicion until 
the end of the w^ar. The Radical reign was as tyrannical as the reign of 
terror in France, during the reign of the Red Republicans! Oh! how 
strange to behold Radicals, w^ho, before the war, preached so much about 
free speech and free press, now, that they had the military power in their 
hands, mob, "lynch," or banish any one who did not support the war 
or w^ho favored peace or who denounced the corruption of the party in 
power or who did not support emancipation, confiscation, devastation and 
Whig equality. 

The Radicals held various opinions. The New York Tribune said Jan. 
22d, 1863, after the defeat of the Republicans and at the fall election in 
1862. ■ "If three months more of earnest fignting shall not serve to make 
a serious impression upon the rebels, if the end of that time shall find us no 
further advanced than its beginning — if some malignant fate has decreed 
that the blood and treasures of the nation shall ever be squandered in fruit- 
less effort let us know our destiny, and make the best attainable peace." 
So Greeley and other Radicals could talk peace, disunion, or treason at 
pleasure; but if a Democratic paper should find fault with the administra- 
tion it was suppressed and the Editor bastiled ! 

As the Radicals quoted Jefferson, freely, before the war, we give an 
extract from Jefferson on the freedom of the press : 

"As to myself, conscious that there was no truth on earth which I feared 
should be known I have lent myself willingly to the support of a great ex- 
periment, which was to prove that the administration conducting itself with 
integrity and common understanding, cannot be battered down even by the 
falsehood of a licentious press. This experiment was wanting for the 
world to demonstrate the falsehood of the pretext that the freedom of the 
press is incompatible with order and government. I have never even con- 
tradicted the thousands of calumnies industriously propagated against 
myself. But the fact being once established that the press is impo- 
tent, when it lends itself to falsehood within the pale of truth, with that 
it is a noble institution equally the friend of science and civil liberty." — 



150 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Jefferson's Works vol. 5. p. 43-4. Again, he says in his letter to Wash- 
ington : — 

" No government ought to be without censors: and when the press is free 
no one ever will ; if virtuous, it need not fear the fair operation of attack 
and defence. Nature has given to man no other means of sifting out the 
truth, either in religion, law or politics. I think it is honorable to the 
government neither to know, nor notice, its sycophants or censors, as it 
would be undignified and criminal to pamper the former and prosecute the 
latter." Jefferson's Works vol. 5. p. 18. 

"Public duties more urgent press on the time of public servants, and the 
offenders have therefore been left to find their punishment in the public 
indignation." — Jefferson's Works, vol. 8, p. 43. " Truth and reason have 
maintained their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, 
the press, confined to truth needs no legal restraint; the public judgment 
will correct false reasonings and opinions; and no other definite line can be 
drawn between the inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing 
licentiousness. If there be still inproprieties which this rule would not 
restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of public opinion." 
— Jefferson's works vol. 8, p. 49. Did the administration and Congress 
follow the noble example of Thomas Jefferson towards the press ? Oh, no, 
but they followed the example of John Adams, whose disciples they were, 
and muzzled the press! 

The following is from T. Pickering, Secretary of State under John 
Adams; July, 24, 1799: 

"I shall give the paper" (a newspaper called the Aurora) to Mr. 
Rawle, and if he thinks it libellous, desire him to prosecute the Editor. 
I presume therefore that he ithe editor of the Aurora) "is really a British 
Subject" (an Irishman) "and as an alien, liable to be banished from the 
United States." 

"He is doubtless a United Irishman." — Works of Adams, vol. 9, pp. 3, 4. 

John Adams to the Attorney General, May 1800: 

" I transmit you a copy of the resolutions of the senate of the United 
States passed in Congress on the 14th of this month, by which I am re- 
quested to instruct the proper law ofiicers to commence and carry on a 
prosecution against William Duane, Editor of a newspaper called the 
Aurora, for certain false defamatory, scandalous, and malicious publications 
in the said newspaper of the 19th of Feb. last partly tending to defame the 
senate of the United States, and to bring them into contempt and disrepute 
and to excite against them the hatred of the good people of the United 
States. In compliance with this request, I now instruct you, gentlemen, to 
commence and carry on the prosecution accordingly." 
"With great esteem, etc., 

"John Adams." 
— Works of Adams, vol, 9. p. 56. 

John Adams followed in the footprints of the British government in its 
prosecutions for libel. The Republicans, during the war, went further 
than ever England or the Federalists, for Editors never got a trial. But, 
at the mere whim of the President, his Cabinet, Generals, and provost- 
marshals, democratic papers were suppressed and their Editors im- 
prisoned. Democratic papers were excluded from the United States 
Mails by military orders. What wonder that the Radicals don't quote the 
writings of Jefferson ! 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 151 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The campaign of 1864, opened with vigor on the part of the administra- 
tion, for it was evident that if the Union troops did not gain some decisive 
victories that Lincoln could not be re-elected. Banks failed in his Red River 
expedition. He went up that river to make a fortune out of cotton, but he 
got beautifully whipped. Sturgis was defeated at Guntown, so that the 
Confederate army was generally successful in the West, Charleston and 
Sumter defied the efforts of Gilmore,and Johnson was in the way of Sherman 
on his road to Atlanta. March 8th 1864, the President presented Grant with 
the cSmmission of Lieutenant General; and on the 12th he was assigned to 
the command of all the armies of the United States. April 23th, 1864, the 
governors of Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana offered 85,000 
men for 100 days. 

July 13th 1864, General A. J. Smith defeated General Forrest at Tupelo 
in five different battles. The object of this raid was to cut the Mobile and 
Ohio Railroad. The battles lasted for five days, the Union troops fought 
with bravery and valor and completely defeated the confederates and cut 
up and destroyed a large portion of the railroad at this point, and then 
marched back to Memphis. Old England allowed her blockade runners to 
supply the Confederates with arms and ammunition; in 1864, the Crenshaw 
and Collier line of steamers made a practice of running the blockade. In- 
deed England since the commencement of the war did all in her power to 
aid the southern cause and to break up the Union. We turn to the army of 
the Potomac, where the Union troops suffered several defeats in consequence 
of the blunders of the administration in removing from command General 
McClellan, the only man who could cope with Lee. Before Grant took 
command of the army, he told the authorities at Washington that he would 
not take command unless he got full control of the campaign for he re- 
membered that McClellan was defeated by the interference of the Washing- 
ton authorities. Lincoln consented to give Grant control of the army provid- 
ed that he would not be a candidate for President. He had made the same 
proposition to McClellan, but that soldier spurned his offer with high disdain. 
Grant' accepted this offer and said to his friends that be did not want to be 
President — that he was a poor man. That he was sure of his salary as 
general. That without office he could not support his family. That if he 
should run for President, and get defeated that he had nothing to fall back 
upon for his support. 

Grant had things his own way. He could march when he was ready. 
He was not ordered like other Commanders of the army of the Potomac, to 
march on a certain day. Thus, Grant was left free to carry out his own 
plans without interference of the Secretary of war or the politicians. — 
Headley vol. 2, p. 315. When the politicians requested Lincoln to control 
the actions of Grant, he said : " I have sent for Mr. Grant over the mountains 
— I have tried my plan long enough — let Grant have his own way." The 
people were now apprehensive that Lincoln could not put down the rebel- 
lion; and he knew that if something was not done to put it down he could 
not be re-elected. He knew that if Grant failed he could shift the whole 
responsibility on him. If on the other hand Grant should succeed it would 
give him another term of the Presidency. Indeed, it was feared that Lin- 
coln not only wanted to be re-elected, but that he wanted to be President 
for life. (Beware of a third cerm.) Grant on being made commander-in- 
chief adopted the McClellan plan, to move two armies simultaneously on to 
Richmond and through Georgia. — Headley \'ol. 2, p. 287. 



152 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Soldiers were ordered to their regiments and supplies were ordered to the 
front by water and rail. Previous to the campaign of 1864, soldiers were 
scattered from Maine to Minnesota, and from Xew York to California. 
Now, Grant ordered even the sick soldiers in hospitals to be sent to the 
front as soon as they were able to march or do garrison duty. Soldiers 
who were detailed around posts and cities were also ordered to their com- 
mands. He called upon the states for 100 day men for garrison duty. 
Every soldier that could be spared from Fort Snelling to the Gulf of Mex- 
ico was sent to the front. 

The Union army, in 1864, mustered one million of men. — Greeley's Am. 
Con. vol. 1, p. 759.— Lost Cause, 510-11. 

Kilpatrick made a raid around Richmond with the bold intent of mak- 
ing one dash on the rebel capital to release the union prisoners. He failed 
in the bold enterprise. Grant's army about Richmond was estimated to be 
about two hundred thousand men. Grant sent Butler to capture Peters- 
burg, and to destroy the south side railroad and then to march around 
Richmond until his left rested on the James, and form a junction with 
Grant's array. — Headley, vol. 2, p. 349. 

Lee wanted but slight success to compel Grant to recross the Rapidan 
on the first day's battle of the Wilderness as he did Hooker. — Headley, vol. 
2, p. 352. Grant had telegraphed to the Secretary of war, "I propose to 
fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer. But after the battle of the 
Wilderness he had to change his mind and adopt thcMcClellan plan. — 
Headley, vol. 2, p. 364. 

May 9th 1864, Butler telegraphed to Grant and the press, that he had cut 
Beauregard's army in two. That General Grant would not be troubled with 
anymore reinforcements from Beaureguard to Lee.— Headley, vol. 2, p. 369. 

But notwithstanding this boast, Gen. Beauregard, on the 16th of May, 1864, 
made a dashing charge on Butler and compelled him to fall back on Ber- 
muda Hundred, between the forks of the James and the Appomattox River, 
(Headley, vol. 2, p. 373.) Thus the boasting beast was "corked up." But- 
ler was a "political general," he attempted to blow up Fort Fisher by ex- 
ploding a ship filled with three hundred tons of powder. — Youth's History 
of the War, 353. 

In the meantime Grant dashed against the fortifications of Spottsylvania 
in order to get to the North Anna, in sight of Lee's army. He was de- 
feated and forced to move by the left fiank. — Headley vol. 2, p. 383, 
towards Cold Harbor in order to cross the Chickahominy. Lee defeated 
him at Cold Harbor. Grant lost severely at both these places, Sigel had 
failed, in the Shenandoah valley; Gilmore had failed, and Grant stole away 
from Lee and crossed the James. The anxious inquiry was "what is next 
to be done." 

Had the authorities at Washington allowed McDowell to reinforce Mc 
Clellan, in 1862, when the army of the Potomac was in sight of the spires 
of Richmond McClellan would have then taken Richmond and ended the 
war. Oh! what a waste of blood was sacrificed under Burnside, Pope, 
Hooker, and Grant, which could have been saved had the administration 
given McClellan his own way, and what men he wg,nted. All this waste of 
money and human gore was sacrificed for political purposes ; to prevent the 
democracy from getting into power. Oh ! what thousands of lives were 
lost — what a mountain of debt was accumulated — what lives lost in loath- 
some prisons and military hospitals — what sufiering and agony — thousands 
of brave men met death in foul prisons. — Oh! what heartrending of parents 
on the death of their children — the tears of widows and orphans all shed to 
keep the Republicans in power — all shed to prevent the democracy from 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 153 

getting into power ! ! What a lesson for future generations. For be it re- 
membered that all the lives that Grant sacrificed from the Eapidan to the 
James could be saved : had he followed McClellan's plan of moving his army 
on the James by water. For McClellan was right when he said that 
Washington was best defended at Richmond. Grant now found that he 
could not "fight it out on this line." 

Grant thought that he could cut off Lee's communication with Richmond. 
We leave Grant pounding away in front of Petersburg and Butler digging 
his famous Dutch gap Canal, which he commenced Aug. 9, 1864. This 
canal was as great a failure as Grant's canal before Vicksburg ! We turn 
to the western department. We find that Banks was defeated by Stonewall 
Jackson in the valley, and that he was defeated in his Red River expedition, 
which was made for cotton speculation ; he having the sanction of both 
Stanton and Halleck. In this expedition he lost 8000 killed, wounded 
and prisoners, 35 pieces of artillery, 1200 wagons, one gunboat, 3 Transports 
and 20,000 stand of arms. — Lost Cause p. 498. Yet, strange to say he was 
made commander of the Gulf Department. But, he was loyal, he was not 
a democrat, he was in favor of Lincoln's policy! On the 5th of August 1864, 
Admiral Farragut took Mobile Bay, and Fort Gaines on the 8th and on the 
10th Aug. 1864, Sherman's forces bombarded Atlanta, which soon fell and 
Sherman commenced his march to the sea. The fall of Mobile and the 
depredations of the Alabama on American commerce were the great naval 
events of the year 1864. 

Although the Democrats had suffered a defeat in 1863 they now made a 
vigorous preparation for the campaign as early as the Spring, on a peace 
platform. For the people were tired of the war and the party in power, 
taxation and the draft, the tariff and the high prices of all the necessaries 
of life. The Republicans did all in their power to delude the people. 
They stopped for no law human or divine, which thwarted their ambition or 
stood in their way to power and plunder. And as the high price of gold 
was one of the causes of the high prices of provisions, they passed an act 
which made it penal for any one to sell or exchange for specie at more than 
ten days at the time and that over their own counters, yet gold went up to 290, 
notwithstanding this 'gold bill.' Peace meetings were now held every- 
where denouncing military despotism, the draft and the policy of the adminis- 
tration and military blunders, corruption and custom-house frauds. The 
government used the military power to smother free speech and free press. 
Many newspapers were suppressed. The New York World and the Journal of 
Commerce were seized by order of General Dix, and the Chicago Times was 
threatened. Governor Seymour wrote to tbe district attorney of the county 
of New York to prosecute General Dix for suppressing the New York ^yorld 
and the Journal of Commerce. — Life of Seymour and Blair, p. 173. In some 
military districts Lieutenants took the grave responsibility of suppressing 
newspapers in their districts and of preventing their sale. The commander 
of every army and the commander of every post could say what papers could 
be read or excluded from the lines. Lincoln made some show of a desire to 
receive rebel peace commissioners ; but it was all a political sham to delude 
the public — a mere electioneering trick. Colonel Jacques, a methodist clergy- 
man of Illinois and a Mr. Kirke, self-constituted ambassadors got through 
the lines to Richmond, having private passes from the authorities at 
Washington and had an interview with Davis and his cabinet. 
' Early in July, 1864, Horace Greeley received a letter from W. C. Jewett, 
stating that prominent rebel commissioners would meet him at Niagara, 
Canada, respecting terms of peace. N. Saunders informed Greeley that 
Clay of Alabama, Holcombe of Virginia and himself would meet him on 



154 CIYIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

a mission of peace as soon as they had the necessary passes from Washing- 
ton. That they would on these conditions go to Washington to confer with 
the President. Greeley replied that they could have safe passes to Wash- 
ington if they could show authority from the Richmond government to 
treat of peace. This they could not do and Lincoln issued his famous 
proclamation " to all whom it may concern." 

Thus ended the whole matter. This was a political trick on the part 
of the administration to disarm the peace party by a pretext that the 
administration wanted peace but that the South did not. The Republicans 
were not yet tired of the war. They had not yet established Negro equality, 
and they were feathering their own nests, and carrying out the doctrines 
and principles of the Federal party and making the way easy for the 
establishment of their model government the British Constitution. — Headley 
vol. 2, p. 463-4-5-6. The administration rejected peace measures from 
the South. In 1864, the peace party in the South, was on the increase: 
Governor Brown of Georgia gave some trouble to Jeff. Davis. He took a 
most decided and prominent stand for peace and state-rights. For this 
cause he was denounced by Davis. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



In the campaign of 1864, the w^hole people north and south were tired of 
the war. The soldiers who had volunteered in 1861, their term of enlist- 
ment had expired — they found from experience that the war was not alto- 
gether for the constitution and the Union but was also used for mere party 
purposes, favoritism and speculation — that a system of plunder had 
pervaded the whole army from Washington to the commanders of compan- 
ies ! The people were not now willing to enlist, for they found that every 
one in power was for himself more than for the country. So the govern- 
ment had to give additional bounty for Veteran Soldiers, and as the rich 
Republicans did not want to fight for the country, although they were will- 
ing to accept contracts where they could make fortunes or take the office 
of Provost-marshal, in some country town whe^e they could play '■'•a petty 
JSfero,''' so they raised bounties, in towns, cities, and counties. Republicans, 
who when the war broke out made war speeches and mobbed those who 
spoke of peace or compromise, now, when they were called upon to fight 
for the country government, sulked back, and tried every device to avoid the 
draft. The doctors and provost-marshals made fortunes in taking bribes 
for exempting men from the draft, who were able-bodied men. Such was 
the commotion created by the draft that the Republicans sent even to Canada 
and Europe for substitutes for which they paid as high as two thousand 
dollars. Sharpers along the Canada frontiers smuggled over substitutes, 
who were even drugged and intoxicated by these rascals. Thus Canada 
furnished thousands of recruits for the Northern army. 

So unpopular had the draft become, in 1864, that meetings were held to 
avoid it and to raise bounties and to encourage enlistments. 

New England which had brought on the War as much as South Caro- 
lina by her political principles did not furnish her quota, but had more 
exemptions from the draft than any other section of the county. Such was 
the rage for substitutes, to avoid tlie draft, that military officers sold their 
men as substitutes. A colonel of a volunteer regiment, while his regiment 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 155 

was organizing in the city of New York, was put under arrest for thus 
defrauding the government by selling his men. It was shown that he had 
sold one hundred of his men to fill up the quota of a country town, for 
which he had received the sum of $7, 800 ; other officers were found guilty 
of the same malpractices. It seems that the people were seized with a 
national mania for plunder, fraud, and corruption. For although millions 
of dollars were raised at the north by sanitary fairs; the soldiers got very 
little of it; the greater part being squandered by the officers, the christian 
commission and loafers around headquarters. 

The administration not being able to get to the front one half of the five 
hundred thousand, which were called out. Indeed, had the war continued 
another year the north would not be able to put down the rebellion for 
volunteering had now "played out." — Headley, vol. 2, p. 463. Nothing now 
could get soldiers into the field but the draft or a bounty. The authorities 
at Washington had a particular spite against the city of New York, for 
being democratic, and the population being nearly foreigners, so they 
drafted more men out of New York city than its full quota — to drive the 
Germans and the Irish into the army, so as to save the Kepublican districts 
in the western part of the State. This caused the great riot of New York. 
The poor men all over the country found that they had to go and do the 
fighting while those who had money could stay at home, for medical men 
exempted for a bribe — each medical staff had a band of unprincipled, and 
greedy runners, who drummed up the parties who wanted exemption. These 
greedy cormorants preyed on the misfortunes of their fellowmen. 

New York had furnished more men than any other state in the union in 
proportion to her population. Yet the authorities at Washington ordered 
the provost-marshal of New York to draft. The city of New York felt 
indignant at the course the Federal government was pursuing in drafting 
from the nine democratic districts, 33,739 men, while the nineteen western 
districts were to furnish but 39,626. In consequence of this outrage a 
violent riot broke out in New York. Governor Seymour and Bishop 
Hughes quelled the riot by addressing the mob; for this the governor was 
blamed by Greeley and the Republican party. Governor Seymour wrote • 
to Lincoln to correct the statement of the Provost Marshal as his statement 
did not agree with that of the State Adjutant of New York. The coriection 
was made and Lincoln and the war department allowed Gov. Seymour 
13,000 men as an excess. For this Seymour was thanked by a Republican 
legislature (Life of Seymour and Blair, 132). Governor Seymour denounced 
arbitrary arrests and the unconstitutional acts of the Federal government. 
The New York agents appointed to take the soldiers' votes were arrested 
in Washington, without just cause, and the soldiers' votes given for 
McClellan and Seymour held back until after the election, and by this fraud 
Lincoln carried the state of New York. Foul play and the corruption of 
the ballot-box, were the favorite tricks of the Republicans. — Life of Sey- 
mour and Blair 194-5, 203, 188-89-90. 

The great question of 1864-5, was how to escape the draft, various were 
the devices resorted to. The gutters were dragged for substitutes; even 
loyal Massachusetts brought negro slaves to the rescue. Massachusetts 
applied to the Southern states to get her a few colored soldiers to fill her 
quota— what became of the promise of Governor Andrews, that if " slavery 
were abolished the roads from Boston to Washington would be blocked 
with soldiers." Even the Radicals went further than any despot of Europe 
for they drafted into the army Catholic Priests. Priests were exempt from 
military duty even by Pagans ! Wliat wonder that deserters were leaving 
the army by thousands. Rebel soldiers were now deserting in great num- 



156 CIVIL GOYERNMEKT OF THE STATES. 

bers. Traps were set in Europe to catch the poor immigrants on their 
arrival in this country — not a patriotic response from the wealthy. Yet 
they blamed the poor man for not enlisting. Republican papers had raised 
the mad accusation of "Cowardice." They spoke of "draft shifting." 
But, strange to say these Editors themselves would not shoulder a musket, 
even if the south should go out of the union, and Lee should invade 
Boston ! These noisy and virulent agitators and fermenters of slaughter 
did nothing but preach since Lincoln called out 75,000 men till the close 
of the rebellion. But, to add to the suffering of the working people and 
to shelter Republicans from going to the front countless frauds were perpe- 
trated in making out the draft. As the whole machinery was in their own 
hands they had no scruples in throwing the burden of the war from their own 
shoulders on the democrats and foreigners. 

In consequence of this practice many claimed protection from foreign 
governments. The Radicals made great promises to the soldiers — they 
promised them land warrants which they failed to give ! In order to carry 
the election by force, fraud and violence the Republican party instituted a 
reign of terror. The press was muzzled in the army ; all military news 
was interdicted unless it was favorable to the party in jDower and the 
authorities at Washington. Newspapers that opposed the administration 
w^ere silenced in this way. Many of the newspapers that were secretly 
opposed to the administration were silenced. They were under the terror of 
the mob and the government officials. What a strange affair was this. 
Thousands who a few years before the war, could not be made to believe 
that the freedom of speech or the press would be suspended, now, in their 
Fourth of July orations denounced all who claimed the freedom of speech 
as rebels and copperheads. 

While the Republicans were indulging in their high-handed acts of des- 
potism the democrats of the north supported Lincoln to put down the 
rebellion with men and money. Democrats poured out their blood to support 
the flag. Indeed, such was the rage for arrests that about 30,000 were 
made duiing the war. Thousands were dragged to prison without an op- 
portunity of seeing their friends. They were not informed of the cause of 
the arrest. Detective police were not allowed to report to the press or to 
allow their books to be inspected. Oh, thou, reign of terror!! 

The party that spoke and wrote so much about the freedom of speech 
and of the press were the first to strike it down when they got into power. 
Democrats while in jDow^er, never denied the people the right to criticise 
the acts of public servants — their motto was that the rulers were but the 
servants of the people. That governments were made for the people. 
The Republicans now held that the people were the servants of the rulers. 
That the people were made for the rulers ! Before the advent of the Repub- 
licans into power, the Republican pi ess teamed with vile and wicked abuse 
of James Buchanan: but, now, should any one say a word against Lincoln, 
he was either visited by the so called loyal mob, or incarcerated in some 
military dungeon. The same tyrants who made it treason to speak against 
Lincoln, abused Johnson, their own candidate, "for having a policy of 
his own " and for following the Constitution of his country. Democrats in 
Congress, by a vote of 54, thought to bring the matter of arbitrary proceed- 
ings before Congress but in vain. Democrats, who became flisgusted with 
the arbitrary measures of the party in power, were opposed to Lincoln and 
opposed a formidable front in the presidential campaign of 1864. The 
Radicals made an effort to pave the way for church and state. Col. B. G. 
Farran,. commanding at Natchez, issued an order requiring all pastors of 
churches to make public recognition of the allegiance to the government; 



CONSTITUTIONAL IIISTOHY OF UNITED STATES. 157 

and to pronounce a prayer approi^riate to the times, and expressive of a 
proper spirit towards the chief magistrate of the United States. The 
Bishop of Natchez, refused to comply with tlie order. He was arrested and 
sent beyond the lines and his Cathedral closed. A clergyman in central 
New York, wTote thirty letters in two months giving a list of such of his 
neighbors whom he wanted to have arrested. The President issued an 
order to the police to make arrests. They held the name of Democrat as 
equivalent to traitor, even it was enough to justify an arrest that the party- 
was a democrat. — Lost Cause, 565. 

Several other churches were closed and the pastors imprisoned for not 
praying for Lincoln, wdiile the Radicals were preying on the country ! 

The reign of terror was so complete that Burnside issued an order, 1863, 
for sending Democrats and all who opposed the government beyond the 
Federal lines. That all copperheads, a name given to all who opposed Lin- 
coln's administration, be tried as spies and traitors and on conviction to 
suffer death. The government had established a system of spies all over 
the country. The government had a list of 850 alleged sympathizers on the 
books in Washington, who were to be sent South on the least provocation. 
The United States had police detectives, during the war and persons em- 
barking at American ports were thoroughly scrutinized. The government 
established a system of passports relative to vessels leaving the port of New 
York through Long Island Sound or Sandy Hook. The passengers and 
crews were searched. The department stationed a man-of-war at Throgs' 
Neck and one at Sandy Hook with orders to detain all American vessels 
and outgoing steamers and sailing crafts not provided with a pass from 
the United States Marshal. Orders were given to imprison in Fort War- 
ren any person in whose possession contraband arms or correspondence 
were found. The marshal ordered the owners of vessels to exercise a 
rigid scrutiny over all persons going on board either as passengers or crew. 
This passport system was the result of a cabinet meeting. During this 
reign of terror women and little children were imprisoned for making some 
foolish remarks about the war, or for finding fault with Lincoln, or for 
uttering one word of sympathy for the South. 

Daring the campaign of 1864, the press teamed with charges of Custom- 
House frauds. Even the rebels were supplied with arms and ammunitions 
of war from New York. Some of the Custom House oflScers were acting 
agents of blockade runners. Bonds were extracted from the Custom-House ; 
investigations of those charges were not made in public, but in private, so 
as to hush matters up until after election as Mr. Stanton's own pets were 
alleged to be the guilty party. Frauds in the navy yard w^ere peipetrated 
on the laboring men and clerks. The stream of corruption from Washing- 
ton, as the fountain head, pervaded the whole country, and set an example 
of dishonesty. Lincoln (having made terms with both Grant and Chase that 
in consideration that the former w^ould be made commander-in-chief of the 
whole union army and the latter chief justice of the United States they 
would not run for President) was nominated for President and Andrew 
Johnson of Tennessee for Vice-President. McClellan and Pendleton were 
nominated by the Democrats. Fremont was the champion of the Radicals. 

The democrats were struggling for the constitution and the union while 
the Republicans were struggling for military power and for strengthening 
the powers of the Congress and the Executive, and destroying state rights. 
Indeed, it was the mark of a copperhead to speak of state rights — in some 
localities the unhappy individual, who spoke of supporting the constitution 
and state rights was mobbed by the so called loyal. The Republicans 
wanted, in this campaign, to extinguish the democratic party, for ever, by 



158 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

force, fraud, and the point of the bayonet. Indeed, whenever the 
Republican party was successful at the elections, it trampled on the 
constitution. 

The democrats were unable to check the unconstitutional career of the 
Republicans. They were found step by step to sustain the war. The fury 
of the war party swept every thing before it of a political nature. The 
vast patronage of the administration brought up the avaricious and ambi- 
tious. The great number of officers and army contractors gave power to the 
administration. The democrats were beguiled at the commencement of 
the war by the skill and tact of Seward. They thought that the war 
would not last long. — Lost Cause, 561-2. 

Seward said that the object of the war was to crush rebellion. That 
as soon as the rebel power was crushed the rebel states would be in the 
union. This was expressed by McClellan in his declaration, that "The 
union is the sole condition of peace — we ask no more." But as the war 
progressed the Radicals held that the rebel states could not come into the 
union unless themselves first abolished slavery ! 

The Fremont men claimed that the rebellion had destroyed slavery. That 
slavery should be abolished ; rebels disfranchised ; the rebel debt repudiat- 
ed and Negro equality established North and South. The Republican 
papers teamed with the vilest and most shameful abuse of McClellan. 
They said that he was a military failure. They accused him of cowardice; 
that he was a traitor in open league with the rebels. That every vote for 
McClellan and Pendleton would be for Jeff Davis and the recognition of 
the Southern Confederacy. Governor Dennison of Ohio, said that McClellan 
was not removed by Lincoln for any doubt of his military talents but only 
because he thought the Democrats would make him their candidate in the 
coming election. 

Seward, during this campaign consigned thousands to prison by the mere 
"tinkle of his little bell." Many said that the object of the war was to 
make Lincoln President, The Radicals said he had a right to it by divine 
authority. Seward said in his Auburn speech that the Republican party 
could not without injustice select any other candidate for President. That 
Lincoln had a vested right in the Presidency ! 

During the Presidential campaign of 1864, the confidential agents of Lin- 
coln were all over the country giving the patronage of the government to gain 
support for the election of Lincoln. In St. Louis the Presidential patronage 
was freely offered to the Radicals if they would drop Fremont and take up 
Lincoln ! 

Union generals used the bayonet to obtain votes. Soldiers who would 
vote for Lincoln got furloughs and transportation to go home to vote the 
Republican ticket. Republican officials tampered with the soldiers in 
hospitals using intimidation to compel them to vote for Lincoln. They 
denounced the McClellan ticket as the rebel ticket. They would say to the 
poor sick soldiers, while in pain and misery, who were worn out from long 
and weary marches, exposure to heat, cold, hunger, and thirst, and who 
were now in the power of the^doctors, if you vote for Lincoln you can have 
a furlough to visit your friends and families and free transportation, " but if 
you vote for McClellan you cannot have a furlough," and so soon as you 
are able we will send you back to your regiment. The poor soldiers thus 
on their beds of sickness, covered with wounds and the scars of war, were 
through fear of loss of life or limb compelled to vote for Lincoln ; others 
would not vote at all. This will explain why so many soldiers voted the Re- 
publican ticket. The following is the vote of the 39th Illinois regiment for 
president in 1864. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 159 

ForLincolii 379 

McClellan - - - - 15 

Fremont ------ 1 

A soldier in the Louisville hospital who voted for Vallandigham, was 
court-martialed by General Boyle, and sentenced to lie in the guard-house 
for 21 days. He was made to stand on a barrel two hours every morning 
with a card on his back with the following inscription: "From God thou 
earnest but to the devil shalt thou return." He had also to saw wood ten 
hours each day for twenty-one days. Soldiers on the Potomac were menaced 
with "ball and chain," shooting and hanging if they would vote for 
Vallandigham. The few votes put in by the Ohio soldiers for the demo- 
cratic ticket were put in by stealth. Thousands of soldiers who had fur- 
loughs had written on them "to vote the Union ticket." The votes of 
thousands of soldiers who were dead for weeks were returned as Lincoln 
votes. Was there any chance for the democrats to elect McClellan ? This was 
preserving the purity of the ballot box. McClellan's meetings were broken 
up by Republican mobs. The mails were opened and McClellan's corres- 
pondence examined, and when McClellan's friends complained to Lincoln he 
said, " let the friends of McClellan attend to their side of the election and I 
will attend to mine." Thus, by bribery, corruption, force, frauds, violence, 
power and patronage of the administration, Lincoln got every state except 
Delaware, Kentucky, and New Jersey. — Lost Cause 574. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Ever since the commencement of the war England displayed her Punic 
faith, as usual, towards the United States. It must be remembered that 
before the war, she encouraged the Abolitionists to agitate for the over- 
throw of slavery, which she knew would bring on a war between the North 
and South. For every man of common understanding knew that it would 
take rivers of blood to wipe out slavery! Now, when the most gigantic 
rebellion that the world ever saw, had threatened the overthrow of the 
government, the English Tory press at home, and even in Canada, aided 
the South. Every petty Canadian sheet preached a dissolution of the 
Union. England was so certain of the success of the Confederacy, that 
her Capitalists invested largely in Southern bonds. This shows that she 
was anxious to break up the Union. Her spies were all over the country 
plotting the overthrow of the Union. She had gone so far in her vile 
attempt to break up the Union, as to make a proposition to France 
to march two armies to aid the Confederates, at the same time. 
The English and French navies were to raise the blockade. England 
was to march an army from Canada into the Northern States, while 
France was to send an army from Mexico into Texas and Louisiana, 
and thus make a diversion in favor of the Confederates. France 
would not strike the first blow, she had no faith in her old enemy 
England, and wanted her to strike the first blow. Their mutual jealousies 
saved the United States from this contemplated invasion, which in all human 
probability would have proved the overthrow of the Lincoln government and 
the Union ! The Canadicin frontier, since the commencement of the war, 
was occupied by the rebels, who were plotting against the union. The 
confederates set on foot a plot to release twenty-five hundred rebel prisoners, 
on Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, while the rebels in Canada were to burn 
Buffalo and other Lake cities. 



160 CIVIL GOYEBNMENT OF THE STATES. 

In September 14th, 1864, John Y. Beall a rebel officer captured and de- 
stroyed two steamboats on the lakes. On the 19th Oct. 1864, Young with 
40 men raided into the village of St. Albans, Vermont, fifteen miles from 
Canada, robbed the bank of 200,000 dollars and fired on the inhabitants 
killing one. They were tried in Canada and acquitted. The Tory authori- 
ties of Canada did not want to punish men they had encouraged to make 
war on the United States! There were rumors that the Confederates were 
plotting to burn hotels in New York ! The southern cause was now on the 
decline, notwithstanding that the southern press had roused the falling 
spirits of the Confederates. Though Butler had failed in taking Fort 
Fisher by the novel means of blowing up a powder boat with several tons 
of gunpowder the Confederates were losing at every point. Price was 
driven out of Missouri and Sherman left Atlanta on the 16th Nov. 1864, 
southward on his march to the sea. 

The south had denounced the mal-administration of Jeff Davis. His in- 
fluence was on the wane. For a large party in the south had accepted 
the fall of the Confederacy as inevitable, — Lost Cause, 657. The soiith was 
now tired of the war and wished for peace. For the south had suffered 
wherever the northern army went, and though there was abundance in many 
parts of the country, other parts suffered from famine. 

In Missouri, the property of all was depredated on by the Kansas raiders 
— men were called to their doors and shot. Several men who returned from 
the rebel army under the President's first proclamation of amnesty, were 
killed in cold blood. Houses were burned, horses stolen, and fields of 
grain laid w^aste, by men of boasted loyalty — men of doubtful loyalty, to 
avoid such infliction proclaimed themselves Radicals, even men who were in 
the rebel army, joined the League, and swore to drive out all who were not of 
the same party. 

Jennison and his followers went forth from Kansas into Missouri and 
made themselves rich, in the name of G-od and liberty. They claimed 
to be in the service of the United States. Kansas Jayhawkers were mounted 
on stolen horses. They had no uniforms, but wore such clothing as they 
stole from the citizens. They wore red leggings. They were loud in pro- 
claiming themselves "unconstitutional Union men." Any man who owned a 
good horse, house and property was condemned as a traitor or a copper- 
head and his property deemed lawful plunder, and himself hanged or con- 
pelled to flee for his life. They were sure to keep at a distance from armed 
men. They went about in small squads on their work of murder and 
plunder! They stole horses and if any resistance was offered the 
offender was left, in the modest language of Jim Lane "in the hands 
of the executioner." They cared little for truth, law or gospel, but 
they thought they were commissioned by heaven to commit all manner of 
crime. 

A copperhead had no "rights which the Red Legs were bound to respect." 
The South had her bushwhackers, so that the southern people were 
robbed on all sides by friends and foes. Such is civil war. In some 
parts of the country it was thought modest to throw rotten eggs at 
democratic speakers; even buildings were set on fire because they 
were owned by democrats. Lee who now saw that the confederacy 
was falling to pieces and that the confederate army was deserting 
in great numbers, for thousands of the southern people were delude l with 
the fond hope that the war would last but a few months, now after years 
of hard fighting, they saw the Union army pushing the confederates before 
them; they despaired of the southern cause; they saw it was the lost 
cause. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 161 

In this extremity, Lee, in 1864, was in favor of enlisting Negroes into 
the Southern army. He also called on the authorities at Richmond to 
restore Johnson. But Davis carried both points against him. This was a 
fatal blunder on the part of the Richmond authorities to remove Johnson, 
and to put Hood in his place who failed in his insane attack on Nashville. 
Lee declined to be the commander-in-chief of the Confederate army, and was 
content to he the commander of the army of Yirginia. The Legislature of 
Virscinia was now besieged with every influence in favor of separate state 
negotiation with the Federal government for peace. Thousands in the South 
both in and out of the army wished for peace — desertions from both armies 
were very large. The Federal government offered as an inducement to rebel 
deserters, that they would be exempt from the draft, and as there were 
thousands of the working-men of the North who were induced to join the 
rebellion, now they thought that they would go North where there was 
good wages. Many of the Southern soldiers were working-men who had no 
property in the South, so they wanted peace. 

In the campaign of 1865 Gen. Sheridan was victorious in the valley and 
was able to close in on Richmond. The shell of the Confederacy was broken, 
Sherman having made his famous march to the sea; and was now in rear of 
Lee: having cut off his communications with the interior. Lee's army 
about Petersburg and Richmond was about thirty thousand. This was 
kept a profound secret from the public ; and newspapers were forbidden to 
publish anything pertaining to military affairs, but what came from the 
war office. — Lost Cause 680. Greeley's Am. Conf. vol, 3, p. 740. 

April 2, 1865, Lee gave orders for the evacuation of Richmond, seeing 
that he could hold out no longer. This order was given and executed at 
night. 

On the 6th of April, 1865, Sheridan's cavalry struck Lee's lines of retreat at 
Sailors' Creek, and after some hard fighting Lee surrendered to Grant, April 

"April 9th, 1865. 

"This done each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, 
not to be disturbed by the United States authority so long as they observe 
their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside." 

Signed by Grant and Lee. 

Greeley Am. Conf. vol. 2, p. 744. April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinat- 
ed by Booth — an attempt was made to assassinate Seward. President 
Johnson offered a reward of 100,000 dollars for the arrest of the offenders. 
May 10, 1865. David E. Harrold, George A. Atzeroth, Lewess Payne, 
Michael O'Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, 
and Samuel A. Mudd, were arrested on suspicion and tried by military 
commissioners as accomplices of Booth. Harrold, Payne, Mrs. Surratt and 
Atzeroth were found guilty and executed at Washington July 7, 1865. 
Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlin were imprisoned for life and Spangler for 
six months. — Headley vol. 2, p. 627-8. 

Johnson surrendered to General Sherman. The Radicals were dissatisfied 
with the terms of surrender. They poured forth on Sherman the vilest of 
abuse. The Radical press accused him of treason. He was censured by 
that vile wretch the Secretary of war ; who said he was acting without 
orders. That Sherman knew the purport of the telegram sent to Grant by 
the President for his guidance in negotiating with Lee. Sherman replied"; 
"now I was not in possession of it, and I have reason to know that Mr. 
Stanton knew I was not in possession of it." 

Halleck sent dispatches to the army not to obey Sherman. The Radicals 
wanted to blast the reputation and character of a noble and brave soldier, 



162 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

as they did that of McClellan, Porter and Buell. Stanton and his confederates 
were the vile marplots of the campaign. The war would have been over 
in one year but for their scheming and corruption ! — Headley vol. 2, 
pp. 602-3. 

They also blamed Sherman for Jeff Davis' escape. The Eadical press 
claiming that he had got off with a fabulous sum of money. They strove 
to hold Sherman responsible for his escape. Sherman replied, " why did 
not Stanton order his arrest, instead of publishing to the world, through 
the newspapers that they wanted him arrested ? " Thus giving him an op- 
portunity to escape. Headley vol. 2, p. 603. 

May 4, 1865, Dick Taylor surrendered to Gen. Canby : May 26 Kirby 
Smith surrendered ; and on May 31st, Hood surrendered. Thus ended the 
most stupendous rebellion on record. After Lee's surrender the whole Con- 
federacy came down tumbling. It appeared that all depended on Lee, for 
after his surrender the whole Confederate army became demoralized, and 
wanted to surrender, for the majority in the South thought that they 
w^ould have all the rights they ever had under the constitution, except 
slavery, which seemed to be abandoned by all, as one of the results of the 
war. So the Confederates from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, laid down 
their arms. The people of the South did not dream that their States would 
be reduced to territories ; their representatives turned out of the Halls of 
Congress ; the Southern States put under the control of five military des- 
pots ! They did not dream that the Congress would try to hurl from office 
the President of the United States before his term of office expired ! That 
the Congress would try to put the power of the executive, the Supreme 
Court, and the State legislatures under the control of Congress. If the peo- 
ple of the South were aware of all this, would they have surrendered with 
out further struggle ? The Radicals should have carried out the terms of 
the surrender in good faith, for this surrender saved the lives of thousands. 

During the war the Radical party made capital out of the treatment of 
Union prisoners of war. Yet the rebel commissioner Ould offered to ex- 
change all the Union prisoners under his command. But Stanton would 
not accept of this offer, for he wanted to make political capital out of the 
misery and sufferings of poor Union soldiers in Andersonville prison — to 
make capital out of the "rebel barbarities." The southern generals did not 
want prisoners of war for they wanted clothing and provisions for their own 
soldiers. In August 1864 Commissioner Ould offered the Federal Agent 
General Mulford to deliver to him all the sick and wounded Federal prison- 
ers without insisting upon an exchange of prisoners. He also informed 
General Mulford of the great mortality among the Federal prisoners, telling 
him to send transportation to the mouth of the Savannah River for the pur- 
pose of taking them away. This offer included the sick and the wounded 
at Andersonville and other prisons. Stanton and other authorities at 
Washington failed to attend to this matter, and so thousands of Union 
soldiers lost their lives, to please the wicked ambition of Stanton. Oh ! on 
his head rests the blood of thousands of Union soldiers. — Lost Cause 627. 
The same offer was made to General Grant, Feb. 11th, 1865. " To rMe is 
worth ambition even in hell." The Republicans would rule even if it cost 
the country oceans of blood, mountains of debt, and hills of slain. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 163 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Immediately after the death of Mr. Lincoln, Andrew Johnson the Vice- 
President of the United States, was sworn in President, under the forms of 
the constitution of the United States. The Republicans interviewed him by- 
several committees to find out his "policy." He said in reply that his 
policy was known to the country. That his speech in Congress against 
Jeff Davis was ample to show his policy and what his principles were. 
That he would make no change in his cabinet. He retained in office all the 
Lincoln men from Seward and Stanton, down to the country post-masters. 
This gave great satisfaction to the Republicans. This was a blunder for he 
should have removed the traitor Stanton. The Radicals said that Johnson 
would be more severe on the rebels, especially on Jeff Davis, than Lincoln 
would have been. Leading Radicals changed the rejoicings to grief and 
their laudation of Johnson to denunciation "so out of the same mouth 
Cometh blessing and curses." 

On the 29th of May, 1865, Johnson had declared by proclamation, that 
all restrictions on Trade were removed East of the Mississippi. 

On May 29, 1865^ the President granted a general amnesty to rebels, except- 
ing the following classes of persons. 

Foreign agents of the conferacy, those who left judicial stations under 
the United States to aid the rebellion ; and military officers of the confeder- 
ate army above the rank of colonel and all naval officers above the rank of 
Lieutenant, all who resigned seats in the United States Congress to aid the 
rebellion ; all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United 
States to join the rebellion. All who were governors of the rebel states and 
some others were also excluded. It was proclaimed that all persons not thus 
excepted were entitled to a restoration of all property except slaves and in 
cases where proceedings have been instituted for the confiscation of the 
property of persons engaged in the rebellion. 

Those claiming the benefit of this amnesty proclamation were required to 
take and subscribe the following oath : 

" i do solemnly swear (or affirm), in the presence of Almighty G-od, 

that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the constitu- 
tion of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder and I 
will, in like manner abide by, and faithfully support all the laws and 
proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion •vsith 
reference to the emancipation of slaves, so help me God." 

December 7th, 1863, Lincoln issued an amnesty proclamation offering a 
free pardon to rebels on taking an oath to support the constitution of the 
United States, and also "to abide by and faithfully support all acts of Con- 
gress passed during the existing Rebellion having reference to slaves, so long 
and so far as not modified by decision of the supreme court." Exceptions 
were made of all who resigned seats in Congress. Federal judges or commis- 
sioned officers who resigned to take part in the rebellion, all officers of the 
rebel government ; and all officers of the rebel army above the rank of 
colonel and all who treated Black soldiers and their officers" otherwise 
than lawfully as prisoners of war.— Greeley, Am. Conf. vol. 2, p. 529. 

At the second secession of the thirty-eighth Congress, Feb. 1, 1865, the 
thirteenth amendment to the constitution was proposed in Congress : — That 
"neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United Stated, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 



164 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legisla 
tion. The secretary of state December 18, 1865, by public notice, declared 
that this amendment was adopted by the constitutional number of states. 
Although the Republicans held that slavery was abolished by Lincoln's 
proclamation of January 1, 1863. Yet, they now found that it could be 
abolished only by the constitution of the United States! The President by 
proclamation of May 29, 1865, provided for the reorganization of a consti- 
tutional government for North Carolina, and appointed Wm. H. Holden 
provisional governor of the state. He provided that no person should be 
an elector or eligible as a member of the state convention unless he took 
the oath prescribed in the amnesty proclamation of May 29, 1865, and 
unless he was a voter under the constitution and laws of South Carolina, 
before May 20, 1861, the date of the ordinance of secession. The military 
commander of the department was authorized to aid the provisional gover- 
nor in enforcing said proclamation, and the Secretaries of the departments 
were empowei'ed to enforce the laws of the United States within the juris- 
diction of North Carolina. In June 13, 1865, it was provided by procla- 
mation for the reorganization of a constitutional government in Mississippi 
and William L. Sharkey was appointed provisional governor. June 17, 
1865, a provisional government was appointed for Georgia, and James 
Johnson was appointed provisional governor ; on the same day Andrew J. 
Hamilton was appointed provisional governor of Texas. June 21, 1865, 
Lewis E. Parsons was appointed provisional governor of Alabama. June 30, 
1865, Benjamim T. Perry was appointed governor of South Carolina. June 
13, 1865, William Marvin was appointed governor of Florida. All other 
seceded states were organized precisely on the same footing as North 
Carolina. October 12, 1865, the President by proclamation removed 
martial law. December 1, 1865, he restored the Writ of Habeas Corpus, 
and on September 1, 1865, all restrictions on trade were removed. Thus 
we find that the war was now over, slavery was abolished by an amendment 
to the constitution and it was supposed that the union was restored on the 
fundamental principles of the constitution. The south had given up 
slavery as one of the things of the past; and all conservatives, men North 
and South thought that the Radicals would accept of Johnson's policy for 
reorganizing the seceded states by giving them all their rights except 
slavery which was now abolished. 

The Republican State Conventions from Maine to California, in 1865, in- 
dorsed President Johnson's policy, Massachusetts and other States declared 
for Negro suffrage and the payment of the public debt. Some of the other 
States were silent on the subject as they feared it would defeat the party 
in the coming election. The States lately in rebellion held elections under 
President Johnson's proclamation ; and elected members of Congress, State 
Legislature, and State officers. 

President Johnson sent the following message to Congress December 4th, 
1865. 

"The relations of the general government toward the four millions of in- 
habitants whom the war has called into freedom, have engaged my most 
serious consideration. On the propriety of attempting to make thefreedmen 
electors by the proclamation of the Executive, I took, for my counsel, the 
Constitution itself, the interpretation of that instrument by its authors and 
their cotemporaries and recent legislature by Congress, when, at the first 
movement toward independence, the Congress of the United States instructed 
the several States to institute governments of their own, they left each state 
to decide for itself the conditions for the enjoyment of the elective 
franchise. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 165 

Durino: the period of the confederacy, there continued to exist a very 
great diversity in the qualifications of electors in the several states ; and 
even within a state a distinction of qualifications prevailed with regard to 
the officers who were to be chosen. The constitution of the United States 
recognizes these diversities when it enjoins that, in the choice of members 
of the House representatives of the United States, ' the electors in each state 
shall have the qualifications requisite for the electors of the most numerous 
branch of the state Legislature.' After the formation of the constitution, 
it remained, as before, the uniform usage for each state to enlarge the body 
of its electors according to its own judgment ; and under this system, one 
state after another has proceeded to increase the number of its electors, 
until now universal suffrage, or something very near it, is the general rule. 
So fixed was this reservation of the power in the habits of the people, and 
so unquestioned has been the interpretation of the constitution, that, dur- 
ing the civil war, the late President never harbored the purpose — certainly 
never avowed the purpose of disregarding it: and in the acts of Congress 
during that period nothing can be found which, during the continuance of 
hostilities, much less after the close, would have sanctioned any departure 
by the executive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. Moreover, 
a concession of the elective franchise to the freedmen, by act of the Presi- 
dent of, the United States, must have been extended to all colored men 
wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in 
the Korthern, Middle, and Western States, not less than in the southern and 
south-western. Such an act would have created a new class of voters, and 
would have been an assumption of power by the President which nothing 
in the constitution or the laws of the United States would have warranted. 

On the other hand, every danger of complaint is avoided when the 
settlement of the question is referred to the several states. They can, each 
for itself decide on the measure and whether it is to be adopted at once and 
absolutely, or introduced gradually and with conditions. In my judgment 
the freedmen, if they show patience and manly virtues, will sooner obtain a 
participation in the elective franchise through the states than through the 
general government, even if it had the power to intervene. When the 
tumult of emotions that have been raised by the suddenness of the social 
change shall have subsided, it may prove that they will receive the kindliest 
usage from some of those on whom they have heretofore most closely de- 
pended. But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, 
it is not competent for the general government to extend the elective 
franchise in the several states, it is equally clear that good faith requires 
the security of the freedmen in their liberties and their properties, their right 
to labor and their right to claim the just return of their labor. I cannot 
too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject, which should be 
carefully kept aloof from all party strife. We must equally avoid hasty as- 
sumptions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live side by side, 
in a state of mutual benefit and good will. The experiment involves us 
in no inconsistency ; let us, then, go and make that experiment in good 
faith, and not be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of labor, 
and freedmen are in need of employment, culture, and protection, while 
their right of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be questioned, 
I would not advise their forced removal and colonization ; let us rather en- 
courage them to honorable and useful industry, where it may be beneficial 
to themselves and to the country ; and, instead of hasty anticipations of the 
certainty of failure, let there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the 
experiment. The change in their condition is the substitution of labor by 
contract for the state of slavery. The freedman cannot fairly be accused 



166 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

of unwillingness to work, so long as a doubt remains about his freedom of 
choice in his pursuits, and the certainty of his receiving his stipulated 
wages. In this the interests of the employer and the employed coincide. 
The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity, aud these can be 
permanently secured in no other way, than if one ought to be able to enforce 
the contract, so ought the other. 

The public interest will be best promoted if the several states will provide 
adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some 
way accomplished, there is no chance for the advantageous use of their 
labor ; and the blame of ill-success will not rest on them. 

I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the immediate realization 
of its remotest aims ; but time is always an element in reform. It is one 
of the greatest acts on record to have brought four millions of people to 
freedom. The career of free industry must be fairly opened to them ; and 
then their future prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly on 
themselves. If they fall and so perish away, let us be careful that the fail- 
ure shall not be attributable to any denial of justice. In all that relates 
to the destiny of the freedmen, we need not be too anxious to read the fu- 
ture; many incidents which, from a speculative point of view, might raise 
alarm will quietly settle themselves. 

We give the President's message to show how far he differed with the 
party that elected him, in 1864. The majority of that party were in favor 
of what they called impartial suffrage, though only the most Radical pro- 
claimed this before the Session of Congress of 1865-6 ; as they feared it 
would injure the party at the elections during the war. Now or never, they 
were determined to accomplish their long-cherished-aims. The reader will 
also bear in mind the opinions expressed by the President, in this message, 
as it will serve as a guide to the development of his policy. 

Very little party spirit was displayed in the southern elections in 1865. 
Politics were indefinite. The South elected Representatives and senators 
to Congress, who applied for seats, at the session of Congress 1865-6, but 
they would not be admitted by the Republicans for they wanted to hold the 
two-thirds vote, in Congress, so as to be able to control the president and 
the Supreme Court. They wanted to retain the power of passing their 
favorite measures over the president's veto! For about this time they 
feared a collision with the president, for it was evident that he intended 
to make the Constitution his guide. They would sooner see the South 
out of the Union than to see the country governed by the constitution 
as it was ! 

The Republicans, having two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, were 
determined to carry out their long- cherished aims. They had now openly 
declared that Congress was Supreme. That the executive should be 
subservient to their dictation. 

On Feb. 2, 1866, the senate passed the so called civil right's bill, by a 
vote of 38 Republicans against 9 Democrats. On March 13, 1866, the bill 
passed the House by a vote of 111 Republicans for, and 38 against it. 

On the 27 March, 1866, the President sent the following veto message to 
the Senate: 

" I regret that the bill which has passed both" Houses of Congress, en- 
titled, ' An act to protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights, 
and furnishes the means of their vindication," contains provisions which I 
cannot approve consistently with my sense of duty to the whole people, 
and my obligations to the constitution of the United States. I am therefore 
constrained to return it to the Senate, the house in which it originated, with 
my objections to its becoming a law. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 167 

By the first section of the bill all persons born in the United States, and 
not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared 
to be citizens of the United States, This provision comprehends the 
Chinese of the Pacific States. Indians subject to taxation, the people 
called Gypsies, as well as the entire race designated as Blacks, people of 
color, Negroes, Mulattoes, and persons of African blood. Every individual 
of these races, born in the United States, is by the bill made a citizen of 
the United States. It does not purport to declare or confer any other 
right of citizenship than Federal citizenship. It does not purport to give 
these classes of persons any status as citizens of the United States. The 
power to confer the right of state-citizenship is just as exclusively with the 
several states as the power to confer the right of Federal citizenship is 
with Congress. 

The right of Federal citizenship thus to be conferred on the several 
excepted races before mentioned, is now, for the first time, proposed to be 
given by law. If, as is claimed by many, all persons who are native-born 
already are, by virtue of the constitution, citizens of the United States, the 
passage of the pending bill cannot be necessary to make them such. If, 
on the other hand, such persons are not citizens, as may be assumed from 
the proposed legislation to make them such, the grave question presents 
itself, whether, when eleven of the thirty-six states are unrepresented 
in Congress at the present time, it is sound policy to make our entire 
colored population and all other excepted classes citizens of the United 
States. 

Four millions of them have just emerged from slavery into freedom. Can 
it be reasonably supposed that they possess the requisite qualifications 
to entitle them to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of 
the United States ? Have the people of the several states expressed 
such a conviction ? It may also be asked whether it is necessary 
that they should be declared citizens, in order that they may 
be secured in the enjoyment of the civil rights proposed to be 
conferred by the bill ? Those rights are, by Federal as well as 
state laws, secured to all domiciled aliens and foreigners, even before the 
completion of the process of naturalization ; and it may safely be assumed 
that the same enactments are sufficient to give like protection and benefit to 
these to whom this bill provides special legislation. Besides the policy of 
the government, from its origin to the present time, seems to have been that 
persons who are strangers to and unfamiliar with our institutions and our 
laws should pass through a certain probation at the end of which, before 
attaining the coveted prize, they must give evidence of their fitness to 
receive and to exercise the rights of citizens, as contemplated by the consti- 
tution of the United States. The bill, in effect, proposes a discrimination 
against large numbers of intelligent, worthy and patriotic foreigners, and 
in favor of the Negro to whom, after long years of bondage, the avenues to 
freedom and intelligence have just now been suddenly opened. He must 
of necessity, from his previous unfortunate condition of servitude, be less 
informed as to the nature and character of our institutions than he who, 
coming from abroad, has to some extent, at least, familiarized himself with 
the principles of a government to which he voluntarily intrusts life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness." Yet it is now proposed, by a single legis- 
lative enactment, to confer the rights of citizens upon all persons of African 
descent born within the extended limits of the United States, while persons 
of foreign birth, who make our land their home, must undergo a probation 
of five years, and can only then become citizens upon proof that they are of 
good moral character, attached to the principles of the constitution of the 



168 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the 
same." 

" The first section of the bill also contains an enumeration of the rights 
to be enjoyed by those classes, so made citizens, in every State and Territory 
in the United States. These rights are to make and enforce contracts, to 
sue the parties, and give evidence: to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold 
and convey, real and personal property; and to have full and equal benefit 
of all the laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as is 
enjoyed by white citizens. So, too, they are made subject to the same punish- 
ments, pains, and penalties in common with white citizens, and to no other. 
Thus a perfect equality of the white and colored races is attempted to be 
fixed by federal law in every State of the Union, over the vast field of State 
Jurisdiction covered by these enumerated rights. And in no one of these can 
any state ever exercise any power of discrimination between difi"erent races. 
In the exercise of state policy over matters exclusively affecting the people 
of each stateit has frequentlybeen thought expedient to discriminate between 
the two races. By the statutes of some of the states, northern as well as 
southern, it is enacted, for instance, that no white person shall intermarry 
with a negro or mulatto. Chancellor Kent says, speaking of the blacks, 
that marriages between them and the whites are forbidden in some of the 
States where slavery does not exist, and they are prohibited in all the slave- 
holding states, and when not absolutely contrary to law, they are revolting, 
and regarded as an offence against public decorum. 

I do not say that this bill repeals state laws on the subject of marriiage 
between two races, for, as the whites are forbidden to intermarry with the 
blacks, the blacks can only make such contracts as the whites themselves 
are allowed to make, and therefore cannot under this bill enter into the 
marriage contract with the whites. I cite this discrimination, however, as 
an instance of the state-policy as to discrimination, and to inquire whether, 
if Congress can abrogate all state-laws of discrimination between the two 
races in the matter of real estate, of suits, and of contracts generally, 
Congress may not also repeal the state laws as to the contract of marriage 
between the races ? Hitherto every subject embraced in the enumeration 
of rights contained in this bill has been considered as exclusively belonging 
to the states. They all relate to the internal police and economy of the 
respective states. They are matters which in each state concern the do- 
mestic condition of its people varying in each according to its own peculiar 
circumstances and the safety and well-being of its citizens. I do not mean 
to say that upon all these subjects they are not Federal restraints — as, for 
instance, in the state-power of legislation over c(mtracts, there is a Federal 
limitation that no state shall pass a law impairing the obligation of contracts 
and, as to crimes, that no state shall pass an ex post facto law ; and, as to 
money, that no state shall make any thing but gold and silver a legal 
tender. But where can we find a Federal prohibition against the power of 
any state to discriminate, as do most of them between artificial persons 
called corporations and natural persons, in their right to hold real estate. 
If it be granted that Congress can repeal all state-laws discriminating 
between whites and blacks in the subjects covered by this bill, why, it may 
be asked, may not Congress repeal, in the same way, all state- laws dis- 
criminating between the two races on the subjects of suffrage and office ? 
If Congress can declare by law who shall hold lands, who shall testify, who 
shall have capacity to make a contract in a state, then Congress can by 
law also declare who, without regard to color or race, shall have the right 
to sit as a juror or as a judge, to hold any office, and, finally, to vote," in 
every State and Territory of the United States. As respects the Territories 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOKY OP UNITED STATES. 169 

they come within the power of Congress, for as to them the law-making 
power is the Federal power; but as to the States, no similar provisions 
exist vesting in Congress the power to make rules and regulations for them. 
"The object of the second section of the bill is to afford discriminating 
protection to colored persons in the full enjoyment of all the rights secured 
to them by the preceding section. It declares that any person who, 
under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, shall 
subject, or cause to be subject any inhabitant of any state or Territory to 
the deprivation of any right secured or protected by this act, or to 
different punishments, pains or penalties, on account of such person having 
at any time been held in a condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, or by reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the 
punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand 
dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of 
the court. This section seems to be designed to apply to some existing or 
future law of a state or Territory which may conflict with the provisions of 
the bill under consideration. It provides for counteracting such forbidden 
legislation by imposing fine and imprisonment upon the Legislator who 
my pass such conflicting laws or upon the officers or agents who shall 
put or attempt to put them into execution. It means an official offence — 
not a common crime committed against law upon the persons or property 
of the Black race. Such an act may deprive the black man of his proj)erty, 
but not the right to hold property. It means a deprivation of the right 
itself, either by the state judiciary or the state legislature. It is therefore 
assumed that under this section members of state legislatures who should 
vote for laws conflicting with the provisions of the bill, that judges of the 
state courts who should render judgments in antagonism with its terms and 
that Marshals and Sheriffs who should, as ministerial officers, execute 
processes sanctioned by state laws, and issued by state judges in execution 
of their judgments, could be brought before other tribunals, and there 
subjected to fine and imprisonment for the performance of the duties which 
such state laws might impose. The legislation thus proposed invades the 
judicial power of the state. It says to every state court or judge, if you 
decide that this act is unconstitutional: if you refuse, under the prohibition 
of a state law, to allow a negro to testify : if you hold that over such a 
subject matter the state law is paramount, and, under color of a state law 
refuse the exercise of the right to the' negro, your error of judgment, how- 
ever conscientious, shall subject you to fine and imprisonment ! I do not 
apprehend that the conflicting legislation which the bill seems to contem- 
plate is so likely to occur as to render it necessary at this time to adopt a 
measure of such doubtful constitutionality. 

In the next place, this provision of the bill seems to be unnecessary, as 
adequate judicial remedies could be adopted to secure the desired end, with- 
out invading the immunities of legislators, always important to be preserved 
in the interest of public liberty, without assailing the independence of the 
judiciary, always essential to the preservation of individual rights, and 
without impairing the efficiency of ministerial officers, always necessary for 
the maintenance of the public peace and order. The remedy proposed by 
this section seems to be, in this respect not only anomalous but unconstitu- 
tional : for the constitution guarantees nothing with certainty if it does not in- 
sure to the several states the right of making and executing laws in regard 
to all matters arising within their jurisdiction subject only to the restriction 
that, in case of conflict with the constitution and constitutional laws 



170 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

of the United States, the latter should be held to be the supreme law of 
the land. 

''The third section gives the District Courts of the United States 
exclusive cognizance of all crimes and offences committed against the pro- 
visions of this act, and concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit Courts of 
the United States of all civil and criminal cases affecting persons who are 
denied, or cannot enforce in the courts or judicial tribunals of the state or 
locality where they may be, any of the rights secured to them by the first 
section. The construction which I have given to the second section is 
strengthened by the third section, for it makes clear what kind of denial or 
deprivation of the rights secured by the first section was in contemplation. 
It is a denial or deprivation of such rights in the courts or judicial tribunals 
of the state. It stands, therefore, clear of doubt that the offence and the 
penalties provided in the second section are intended for the state judge, 
who, in the clear exercise of his functions as a judge, not acting ministeri- 
ally but judicially, shall decide contrary to this Federal law. In other 
words, when a state judge, acting upon a question involving a conflict 
between a state law and a Federal law, and bound, according to his own 
judgment and responsibility, to give an impartial decision between the 
two, comes to the conclusion that the state law is valid and the Federal law 
invalid, he must not follow the dictates of his own judgment, at the peril 
of fine and imprisonment. The legislative department of the government 
of the United States thus takes from the judicial department of the states 
the sacred and exclusive duty of judicial decision, and converts the state 
judge into a mere ministerial officer, bound to decide according to the will 
of Congress. 

"It is clear that, in states which deny to persons whose rights are 
secured by the first section of the bill any one of those rights, all criminal 
and civil cases affecting them will, by the provisions of the third section, 
come under the exclusive cognizance of the federal tribunals. It follows 
that if in any states which deny to a colored person any one of all those 
rights, that person should commit a crime against the laws of a state — 
murder, arson, rape, or any other crime — all protection and punishment 
through the courts of the state are taken away, and he can only be tried 
and punished in the Federal courts. How is the criminal to be tried if the 
offence is provided for and punished by Federal law, that law, and not the 
state law, is to govern ? It is only when the offence does not happen to be 
within purview of Federal law that the Federal courts are to try and punish 
him under any other law. Then resort is to be had to the common 
law, as modified and changed by state legislation, so far as the same is not 
inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States, so that 
over this vast domain of criminal jurisprudence provided by each state for 
the protection of its own citizens, and for the punishment of all persons 
who violate its criminal laws. Federal law, whenever it can be made to 
apply, displaces state law. 

The question here naturally arises from what source Congress derives the 
power to transfer to Federal tribunals certain classes of cases embraced in 
this section. The constitution expressly declares that the judicial power 
of the United States shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising 
under this constitution, the. laws of the United States, and treaties made, 
or which shall be made under their authority : to all cases affecting ambas- 
sadors, and other public ministers and consuls: to all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction : to controversies to which the United States 
shall be a party : to controversies between two or more states between a 
state and the citizens of another state, between citizens of different states, 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 171 

between citizens of the same state claiming land under grants of different 
states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, 
citizens, or subjects. Here the judicial power of the United States is 
expressly set forth and defined; and the act of September 24, 1789, 
establishing the judicial courts of the United States, in conferring upon the 
Federal courts jurisdiction over cases originating in state tribunals is careful 
to confine them to the classes enumerated in the above recited clause of the 
constitution. This section of the bill undoubtedly comprehends cases and 
authorizes the exercise of powers that are not, by the constitution, within 
the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States. To transfer them to 
those courts would be an exercise of their authority well calculated to excite 
distrust and alarm on the part of all the states ; for the bill applies alike to 
all of them — as well to those that have as to those that have not been 
engaged in rebellion. It may be assumed that this authority is incident to 
the power granted to Congress by the constitution, as recently amended, to 
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the article declaring that neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, 
or any place subject to their jurisdiction. It cannot, however, be justly 
claimed that, with a view to the enforcement of this article of the constitu- 
tion, there is at present any necessity for the exercise of all the powers 
which this bill confers. Slavery has been abolished, and at present nowhere 
exists within the jurisdiction of the United States, nor has there been, nor 
is it likely there will be, any attempt to revive it by the people or the states. 
If, however, any such attempt shall be made, it will then become the duty 
of the general government to exercise any and all incidental powers necessary 
and proper to maintain inviolate this great constitutional law of freedom. 

The fourth section of the bill provides that ofiicers and agents of the 
Freedmen's Bureau shall be empowered to make arrests, and also that other 
officers may be specially commissioned for that purpose by the President of 
the United States. It also authorizes circuit courts of the United States, 
and the superior courts of the Territories to appoint, without limitation, 
commissioners, who are to be charged with the performance of quasi- 
judicial duties. The fifth section empowers the commissioners so to be 
selected by the courts to appoint in writing under their hands, one or more 
suitable persons from time to time to execute warrants and other processes 
described by the bill. These numerous official agents are made to consti- 
tute a sort of police, in addition to the military, and are authorized to 
summon a posse comitatus^ and even to call to their aid such portion of the 
land and naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, as may be 
necessary to the performance of the duty with which they are charged. 
This extraordinary power is to be conferred upon agents irresponsible to 
the government and to the people, to whose number the discretion of the 
commissioners is the only limit, and in whose hands such authority might 
be made a terrible engine of wrong, oppression, and fraud. The general 
statutes regulating the land and naval forces of the United States, the 
militia, and the execution of the laws, are believed to be adequate for every 
emergency which can occur in time of peace. If it should prove otherwise. 
Congress can at any time amend these laws in such a manner as, while 
subserving the public welfare, not to jeopard the rights, interests, and 
liberties of the people. 

"The seventh section provides that a fee of ten dollars shall be paid to 
each commissioner in every case brought before him, and a fee of five 
dollars to his deputy or deputies, for each person he or they may arrest and 
take before any such commission," with such other fees as may be deemed 



173 CIYIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

rfcasonable by such commissioner." In general for performing such other 
duties as may be required in the premises, all these fees are to be paid out 
of the Treasury of the United States, whether there is a conviction or not, 
but in case of conviction they are to be recoverable from the defendant. It 
seems to me that under the influence of such temptations bad men might 
convert any law, however beneficent, into an instrument of persecution and 
fraud. "By the eighth section of the bill the United States courts, which 
sit only in one place for white citizens, must migrate with the marshal and 
the district attorney, and necessarily with the clerk, although he is not 
mentioned, to any part of the district upon the order of the President, and 
there hold a court for the purpose of the more speedy arrest and trial of 
persons charged with a violation of this act, and there the judge and other 
officers of the court must remain, upon the order of the President, for the 
time therein designed. 

' '■ The ninth section authorizes the President, or such persons as he may 
empower for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces 
of the United States or of the militia, as shall be necessary to prevent the 
violation and enforce the due execution of his act.' This language seems 
to imply a permanent military force, that is always at hand, and whose 
only business is to be the enforcement of this measure over the vast region 
where it is intended to operate. 

'"I do not propose to consider the policy of this bill. To me the details 
of the bill seem fraught with evil. The white race and the black race of 
the south have hitherto lived together under the relation of master and 
slave — capital owning labor. Now, suddenly, that relation is changed, and, 
as to ownership, capital and labor are divorced. They stand now each 
master of itself. In this new relation, one being necessary to the other, 
there will be new adjustment, which both are deeply interested in making 
harmonious. Each has equal power in settling the terms, and, if left to the 
laws that regulate capital and labor, it is confidently believed that they will 
satisfactorily work out the problem. Capital, it is true, has more intelli- 
gence, but labor is never so ignorant as not to understand its own in- 
terests, not to know its own value, and not to see that capital must pay 
that value. This bill frustrates this adjustment. It intervenes between 
capital and labor, and attempts to settle questions of political economy 
through the agency of numerous officials, whose interest it will be to ferment 
discord between the two races ; for as the breach widens their employment 
will continue, and when it is closed their occupation will terminate. 

In all our history, in all our experience as a people, living under federal 
and state law, no such system as that contemplated by the details of this 
bill has ever before been proposed or adopted. They establish for the 
security of the colored race safe-guards which go infinitely beyond any that 
the general government has ever provided for the white race. In fact, the 
distinction of race and color is, by the bill, made to operate in favor of the 
colored and against the white race. They interfere with the municipal leg- 
islation of the state, with the relations existing exclusively between a statq 
and its citizens or between inhabitants of the same state — an absorption and 
assumption of power by the general government which, acquisced in, must 
sap and destroy our Federal system of limited powers, and break down the 
barriers which preserve the rights of the states. It is an other step, or 
rather stride, towards centralization and the concentration of all legislative 
powers in the national government. The tendency of the bill must be to 
resuscitate the spirit of rebellion, and to arrest the progress of those influ- 
ences which are more closely drawing around the states the bonds of union 
and peace. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 173 

"My lamented predecessor, in his proclamation of the 1st January, 1863, 
ordered and declared that all persons held as slaves within certain states 
and parts of states therein designated were and thenceforth should be free, 
and, further, that the executive government of the United States, including 
the military and naval authorities thereof, would recognize and maintain the 
freedom of such persons. This guarantee has been rendered especially oblig- 
atory and sacred by the amendment of the constitution abolishing slavery 
throughout the United States. I, therefore, fully recognize the obligation to 
protect and defend that class of our people, whenever and wherever it shall 
become necessary, and to the full extent compatible with the constitution 
of the United States. Entertaining these sentiments, it only remains for 
me to say, that I will cheerfully co-operate with Congress in a measure that 
may be necessary for the protection of the civil rights of the freedmen, as 
well as those of all other classes of persons throughout the United States, 
by judicial process, under equal and impartial laws, in conformity with the 
provisions of the Federal constitution. 

I now return the bill to the senate and regret that, in considering the bills 
and joint resolutions — forty-two in number — which have been thus far sub- 
mitted for my approval, I am compelled to withhold my assent from a 
second measure that has received the sanction of both Houses of Congress." 
Andrew Johnson, Washington, D. C. March 27, 1866. April 6th, 1866, 
the senate passed this bill over the veto and on April 9 it passed the House, 
and was declared a law by the speaker. 

The Freedmen's bureau bill, which passed the senate January 25, 1866, 
and the House Feb. 6, 1866, was vetoed by the President, but was passed 
over the veto by both Houses. 

A second Freedmen's Bureau bill was passed by both Houses and vetoed 
by the President, but was passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote. 

April 80th 1866, Mr. Stevens, from the joint select committee on reconstruc- 
tion reported the first draft of the 14th amendment to the constitution of the 
United States. 

It passed the senate, as amended June 8, 1866 by a vote of 38 Republicans; 
against the bill 11, (Democrats 7 ; Cowan, Doolittle,Korton,and Yan Winkle, 
Unionists). It passed the House by 138 yeas (all Reps.) nays 86 (ail 
demts.). June 16, 1866, the amendment was deposited in the state de- 
partment and certified copies sent by the Secretary of the state to the state 
governors. 

June 18, 1866, both Houses passed a resolution requesting the President 
to submit the adopted amendment. June 20, the Secretary of state notified 
the President that he had transmitted a copy of the bill to the state gover- 
nors. June 23, 1866, the President submitted the report of the Secretary 
of state to Congress, expressing at the same time to Congress, that he dis- 
approved the said amendment. — Vide Cong. Globe on the civil rights, 
Freedmen's Bureau Bills and on the 14th Amendment. 

The Legislatures of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, 
Tennessee and Oregon ratified the amendment in 1866. The Legislatures of 
Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas 
rejected the amendment in 1866. Immediately on the reception of the 
President's veto the Radicals in and out of Congress poured forth on the 
President's head the vilest abuse known to denunciation. 

The following is an extract from Johnson's Proclamation of April 2,1866, 
announcing that the rebellion was over in the late rebel states. 

"And whereas, by my proclamation of the thirteenth day of June last 
the insurrection in the state of Tennessee was declared to have been sup- 
pressed, the authority of the United States therein to be undisputed, and 



174 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

such United States officers as have been duly commissioned to be in the 
undisputed exercise of their official functions : 

" And whereas there now exists no organized armed resistance of mis- 
guided citizens or others to the authority of the United States in the states 
of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida, and the laws can be sustained 
and enforced therein by the proper civil authority. State or Federal, and 
the people of the said states are well and loyally disposed, and have con- 
formed or will conform in their legislation to the condition of affairs 
growing out of the amendment to the constitution of the United States, 
prohibiting slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States: 

And whereas, in view of the before recited premises, it is the manifest 
determination of the American people that no state of its own will, has the 
right or the power to go out of, or separate itself from, or be separated from 
the American Union, and therefore each state ought to remain and consti- 
tute an integral part of the United States : 

"And whereas the people of the several before-mentioned states have, 
in the manner aforesaid, given satisfactory evidence that they acquiesce in 
this sovereign and important resolution of national unity : 

"And whereas it is believed to be a fundamental principle of government 
that the people who have revolted, and who have been overcome and sub- 
dued, must either be dealt with so as to induce them voluntarily to become 
friends, or else they must be held by absolute military power or devastated 
so as to prevent them from ever again doing harm as enemies, which last- 
named policy is abhorrent to humanity and freedom : 

" And whereas the constitution of the United States provides for constit- 
uent communities only as States and not Territories, dependencies, 
provinces or protectorates : 

And whereas such Constituent States must necessarily be, and by the 
constitution and laws of the United States are made, equals and placed 
upon a like footing as to political rights, immunities, dignity, and power, 
with several states with which they are united : 

And whereas the observance of political equality as a principle of right 
and justice is well calculated to encourage the people of the aforesaid states 
to be and become more and more constant and persevering in their renewed 
allegiance: 

' ' And whereas standing armies, military occupation, martial law, mili- 
tary tribunals, and the suspension of the privilege of the Writ of Habeas 
Corpus are in time of peace, dangerous to the public liberty, incompatible 
with the individual rights of the citizen, contrary to the genius and spirit 
of our free institutions, and exhaustive of the national resources, and ought 
not therefore to be sanctioned or allowed except in cases of actual neces- 
sity, for repelling invasion or supressing insurrection or rebellion : 

And whereas the policy of the government of the United States, from the 
beginning of the insurrection to its overthrow and final suppression, has 
been in conformity with the principles herein set forth and enumerated : 

Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson President of the United States, do 
hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore existed 
in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Ten- 
nessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida is at an end, 
and is henceforth to be so regarded." 

The war department issued an order in relation to trials by military com- 
missions. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 175 

" War Department, Adj. Gren. Office. 
Washington, May 1, 1866. 

General Orders, No 26." 

"Whereas some military commanders are embarrassed by doubts as to 
the operation of the proclamation of the President, dated the 2d day of 
April, 1866, upon trials by military Courts-martial and military offences, 
to remove such doubts, it is ordered by the President that — 

Hereafter, whenever offences committed by civilians are to be tried where 
civil tribunals are in existence which can try them, their cases are not 
authorized to be, and will not be brought before military courts-martial or 
commissions, but will be committed to the proper civil authorities. This 
order is not applicable to camp followers, as provided for under the 60th 
Article of war, or to contractors and others specified in Section 16, act of 
July 17, 1862, and Sections 1 and 2, act of March 2, 1863. Persons and 
offences cognizable by the rules and articles of war, and by the acts of Con- 
gress above cited, will continue to be tried and punished by military tribu- 
nals as prescribed by the Rules and Articles of war and acts of Congress, 
herein after cited, to wit : 

Sixtieth of the Rules and Articles of war. All sutlers and retainers to 
the camp, and all persons whatsoever serving with the armies of the United 
States in the field, though not enlisted soldiers, are to be subject to orders 
according to the rules and discipline of war. By order of the Secretary of 
war: E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General. 

The laws of suffrage in several states in 1865, the laws of Maine, Vermont, 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island make no distinction in 
respect of color, as a qualification of voters, although in Rhode Island the law 
requires a property qualification of 134 dollars worth of real estate as a 
necessary qualification of a voter of foreign birth, and Massachusetts and 
Connecticut deny the right of suffrage to all who cannot read the constitution 
and the statutes in the English Language. 

Indians, who are taxed, can vote in the following states, the New Eng- 
land States, Michigan, Wisconsin, California and Minnesota. Chinamen are 
expressly excluded from the benefit of suffrage in California, Oregon, and 
Nevada. Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin. Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas and 
Illinois admit as voters those not yet citizens. The states of Connecticut, 
Colorado, Wisconsin, and Minnesota voted against negro suffrage in 1865. 

An extract from President Johnson's speech at Washington, Aug. 18, 
1866, showing the difference between himself and Congress : 

" With the bill called the Freedmen's Bureau, and the Army placed at 
my discretion (laughter and applause), I could have remained at the 
Capital. With fifty or sixty millions of appropriations, with the machinery 
to be worked by my own hands; with my satraps and dependants in every 
township and civil district in the United States, where it might be neces- 
sary, with the Civil Rights bill coming along as an auxiliary (laughter) and 
all the other patronage of the government, I could have proclaimed 
myself dictator." — Sup. Cong. Globe, 1868, p. 99. Again, in the same 
speech, he spoke of the usurpation of Congress: 

"We have seen Congress assuming to be for the Union when every step 
they took was to perpetuate dissolution, and make disruption permanent. 
We have seen every step that has been taken, instead of bringing about 
reconciliation and harmony, has been legislation that took the character of 
penalties, retaliation and revenge. I placed my foot upon the Constitution 
of my country as the great rampart of civil and religious liberty (applause) 
having been taught in early life, and having practiced it through my , whole 



176 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

career to venerate, respect, and make the Constitution of my Fathers my 
guide through my public life." 

"We have seen Congress organized: we have seen Congress in its ad- 
vance. Step by step, it has gradually been encroaching upon constitutional 
rights and violating the fundamental principles of the government, day 
after day, and month after month. We have seen a Congress that seemed to 
forget that there was a constitution of the United States, that there were 
limits, that there were boundaries to the sphere or scope of legislation. We 
have seen Congress in a minority assume to exercise, and have exercised 
powers if carried out and consummated, will result in despotism or Monarchy 
itself. This is truth ; and because I and others have seen proper to appeal 
to the country, to the patriotism and republican feeling of the country, I 
have been denounced. Slander after slander, vituperation after vituperation 
of the most vindictive character has made its way through the press. What 
has been my sin ? what has been your sin ? what has been the cause of your 
offending ? Because you dare to stand by the constitution of your 
fathers." 

General Grant stood by the President, while he was making this speech — 
giving it his approval: yet the President was impeached for this offence, and 
Grant was made President. 

The President denounced the Kadical Congress in public speeches at 
Cleveland and St. Louis. While making a speech in Cleveland, Ohio, he was 
violently interrupted by a Radical mob. — The conduct of the Radicals on 
this occasion was disgraceful in the extreme. 

In 1866, Alabama, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia held no 
general state elections, but a congressional election was held in Georgia. 

In North Carolina, Worth the democratic candidate for governor defeated 
the Republican candidate Dockery, by a majority of 23,496. There was no 
election in South Carolina this year except to fill vacancies in the state 
legislature. Mississippi had no election this year except for district judges 
and county officers. Political matters in Arkansas, in 1866, were in a 
chaotic state and party lines were not well defined. The Radicals, (having 
been successful at the poles) made one more stride towards Federalism (in 
the language of Jefferson), they "wished to transform it" (the government) 
"ultimately into the shape of their darling model the English government; 
and in the meantime, to familiarize the public mind to the change, by 
administering it on English principles, and in English forms." 

Jefferson's Works vol. 5, p. 257. 

During the election of 1866 the Radicals held over the President's head 
the threat of impeachment. The people thought that this threat was made 
for political capital. That there would be no impeachment. The rank and 
file of the Republicans and the minor and local politicians had to follow 
the lead of their Radical masters. Sumner, Wade, Butler and others 
cracked their whips over them without mercy. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, moved 
December 17, 1866, for a committee to investigate the acts of^the President. 
This was done, so that the Radicals could place spies at the white House 
and pry into the secrets of the President. The Radicals were apprehensive 
that Johnson would turn them out of office and fill their places with his 
own friends. To guard against this, Congress passed the "Tenure of OflSce 
Bill." This bill was passed for two purposes, to keep the Radicals in oflGice, 
and as a trap to ensnare the President ; for they wanted some plausible 
pretext to oust him from oflBce and to fill his place with their own instrument 
Ben Wade. They knew full well that this bill was unconstitutional, yet 
they trampled the constitution under their feet. They held that it was 
treason to speak of the constitution or the rights of the states. An other 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 177 

object of the Radicals in passing this act was to compel the President to fill 
the highest offices with his enemies. This was the plan of the blue light 
Federalist. John Adams, in the last days of his power, attempted to fill 
the permanent offices with his friends so that his successor, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, would have to smart under officers who were his political and perhaps 
personal enemies. 

"The last day of his political power (Adams), the last hours, and even 
beyond the midnight, were employed in filling all offices, and especially 
permanent ones, with the bitterest Federalists, and providing for me the 
alternative either to execute the government by my enemies, whose study 
it would be to thwart and defeat all my measures, or to incur the odium of 
such numerous removals from office, as might bear me down." — Jefferson's 
Works, vol. 5, p. 561. 

The Radicals slipped into the bill making appropriations, passed March 
2, 1867, a clause which deprived the President of his functions as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army under the constitution. Their object was to 
put the army, navy, and state militia under the control of Congress and 
their favorite generals. For the accomplishment of this usurpation they 
found a willing instrument in Stanton, the Secretary of war. We give 
sections 2 and 6 of this act. 

Sec. 2. That the Headquarters of the general of the army of the United 
States shall be at the city of Washington ; and all orders and instructions 
relating to military operations, issued by the President or the Secretary of 
war, shall be issued through the General of the Army, and in case of inability 
through the next in rank." 

The General of the army shall not be removed, suspended, or relieved 
from command, or assigned to duty elsewhere than at said Headquarters, 
except at his own request, without the previous approval of the senate; and 
any orders or instructions relating to military operations issued contrary to 
the requirements of this section shall be null and void ; and any officer who 
shall issue orders or instructions contrary to the provisions of this section 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor in office ; and any officer of the 
army who shall transmit, convey, or obey any orders or instructions so issued, 
contrary to the provisions of this section, knowing that such orders were 
issued; shall be liable to imprisonment for not less than two nor more than 
twenty years, upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

" Section 6. That all militia forces now organized or in service in eitlier 
of the States of Virginia, Nortli Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, be fortwilh disbanded, and 
that the further reorganization, arming, or calling into service of the said 
militia forces in any part thereof, is hereby prohibited under any circum- 
stance whatever, until the same shall be authorized by Congress," — App. 
Cong. Globe, 1868, p. 210. 

March the 2nd, 1867, Congress passed the first Reconstruction Bill which 
abolished the state governments in the ten southern states and divided them 
into five military districts. Each district was placed under the supreme 
control of a commanding General, who possessed both civil and military 
jurisdiction. Lieutenants from the office of the Freedmen's Bureau were 
clothed with civil power, and acted as judges and justices of the peace. 
These military officers were under the immediate control of Congress. On 
the 23rd March, 1867, the second Reconstruction Bill was passed. The 
fifth section of this bill made the majority of votes sufficient to ratify the 
so called constitutions. It also authorized the election of Congressmen, 
Generals of the army were authorized to remove all officers, who did not 
carry out the Reconstruction act, and to detail others in their places. They 



ITS ^ CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

were authorized to remove all the officers of the provisional government. 
It made it unlawful for the President to detail the army and navy to support 
the provisional governments. It repealed all laws passed by the provisional 
governments. When it became known that the President had vetoed the 
Freedmen's bureau bill and the civil rights bill, the Radicals became frantic. 
They called the President a political apostate. They poured forth their 
wrath without stint on his head. He was called another Arnold ! They 
exhausted their vocabulary of abuse and vile slang on him because he stood 
in their way in their attempt to trample upon the constitution ; because he 
did not think proper to follow them beyond the pale of the constitution of 
Washington and the fathers of the revolution. The President saw that the 
Radicals had no settled policy. That they were every day drifting more 
and more to confusion and anarchy. That they had repudiated the wise 
teachings of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Jackson and that 
they were following such blind guides and fanatics, as Wendell Phillips and 
the whole restless fanatics of the country. 

The following is an extract from the President's message Dec. 8th, 1867 : 

"That at this time there is no Union, as our fathers understood the term, 
and as they meant it to be understood by us. The Union which they 
established can exist only where all states are represented in both Houses of 
Congress ; where one state is as free as an other to regulate its internal con- 
cerns according to its own will, and where the laws of the central govern- 
ment, strictly confined to matters of national jurisdiction, apply with equal 
force to all the people of every section. That such is not the present state 
of the Union is a melancholy fact." 

"To me the process of reconstruction seems perfectly plain and simple. 
It consists merely in a faithful application of the constitution and laws. The 
execution of the laws is not now obstructed or opposed by physical force. 
There is no military or other necessity, real or pretended, which can prevent 
obedience to the constitution either North or South." 

' ' There is therefore no reason why the constitution should not be obeyed, 
unless those who exercise its powers have determined that it shall be disre- 
garded and violated." 

In reference to the policy of Congress in its reconstruction measures he hints : 

"The mere naked will of this government, or of some one or more of its 
branches, is the only obstacle that can exist to a perfect union of all the 
states. In regard to the states lately in rebellion he said : 

"It is clearly to my apprehension that the states lately in rebellion are 
still members of the national union. When did they cease to be so ? The 
"ordinances of secession," adopted by a portion (in most of them a very 
small portion) of the citizens, were mere nullities. If we admit now that 
they were valid and effectual for the purpose intended by their authors, we 
sweep from under our feet the whole ground upon which we justified the 
war. Were those states afterward expelled from the union by the war ? 
The direct contrary was averred by this government to be its purpose, and 
was so understood by all those who gave their blood and treasure to aid in its 
prosecution. It cannot be that a successful war, waged for the preservation 
of the union, had the legal effect of dissolving it. The victory of the nation's 
arms was not the disgrace of her policy ; the defeat of secession on the battle 
field was not the triumph of its lawless principle. Kor could Congress, with 
or without the consent of the Executive do anything which would have the 
effect, directly or indirectly, of separating the states from each other. To 
dissolve the union is to repeal the constitution which holds it together, and 
that is a power which does not belong to any department of this government 
nor to all of them united." 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATICS. 179 

" Congress submitted an amendment of tlie constitution to be ratified by 
the southern states, and accepted their acts of ratification as a necessary 
and lawfal exercise of their highest function. If they were not states, or 
were states out of the union, their consent to a change in the fundamental 
law of the union would have been nugatory, and Congress in asking it, 
committed a political absurdity. The judiciary has also given the solemn 
sanction of its authority to the same view of the case. The Judges of the 
supreme court have included the southern states in their circuits, and they 
are constantly in lane and elsewhere, exercising jurisdiction which does not 
belong to tliem, unless those are states in the union." The right of the 
Federal government, which is clear and unquestionable, to enforce the con- 
stitution upon them implies the correlative obligation on our part to observe 
its limitations and execute its guarantees." 

"Being sincerely convinced that these views are correct, I would be 
unfaithful to my duty if I did not recommend the repeal of the acts of 
Congress which place ten of the Southern States under the dominion of 
military masters. If calm reflection shall satisfy a majority of your honor- 
able bodies that the acts referred to are not only a violation of the national 
faith, but in direct conflict with the Constitution, I dare not permit myself 
to doubt that you will immediately strike them from the statute-book." 

"To demonstrate the unconstitutional character of those acts I need no 
more than refer to their general provisions. It must be seen at once that 
they are not authorized. To dictate what alterations shall be made in the 
Constitutions of the several states, to control the elections of state legislators 
and state officers, members of Congress and electors of the President and 
Vice-President, by arbitrarily declaring who shall vote and who shall be 
excluded from that privilege ; to dissolve State Legislatures or to prevent 
them from assembling; to dismiss judges and other civil functionaries 
of the state, and appoint others without regard to state law, to organize and 
operate all the political machinery of the state; to regulate the whole 
administration of their domestic and local affairs according to the mere 
will of strange and irresponsible agents, sent among them for that purpose, 
these are powers not granted to the Federal government or to any one of 
its branches. "If the authority we desire to use does not come to us 
through the Constitution, we can exerercise it only by usurpation, and 
usurpation is the most dangerous of political crimes." 

"The acts of Congress in question are not only objectionable for their 
assumption of ungranted power, but many of their provisions are in conflict 
with the direct prohibitions of the Constitution." 

"It denies the habeas corpus and trial by jury. Personal freedom, prop- 
erty, and life, if assailed by the passion, the prejudice, or the rapacity of 
the ruler, have no security whatever. It has the eff'ect of a bill of attainder, 
or bill of pains and penalties, not upon a few individuals, but upon 
whole masses." 

"These wrongs, being expressly forbidden, cannot be constitutionally 
inflicted upon any portion of our people no matter how they may have 
come within our jurisdiction and no matter whether they live in States, 
Territories, or districts. 

" I have no desire to save from the proper and just consequences of their 
great crime those who engaged in rebellion against the government, but as 
a mode of punishment the measures under consideration are the most 
unreasonable that could be invented. Many of these people are perfectly 
innocent. Many kept their fidelity to the Union untainted to the last ; many 
were incapable of any legal offences ; a large proportion even of the persons 
able to bear arms were forced into rebellion against their will." 



180 CIVIL GOYERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

But the acts of Congress confounded them all together in one common 
doom." 

"The Blacks m the south are entitled to be well and humanely governed 
and to have the protection of just laws for all their rights of person and 
property. If it were practicable at this time to give them a government 
exclusively their own, under which they might manage their own affairs in 
their own way, it would become a grave question whether we ought to do 
so, or whether common humanity would not require us to save them from 
themselves." Speaking of the ignorance of the Blacks, he said that they 
are ' ' so utterly ignorant of public affairs that their voting can consist in 
nothing more than carrying a ballot to the place where they are directed 
to deposit it." 

" TJhe transfer of our political inheritance to them would, in my opinion, 
be an abandonment of a duty which we owe alike to the memory of our 
■fathers and the rights of our children." 

" Of all the dangers which our nation has yet encountered none are equal 
to those which must result from the success of the efforts now making to 
Africanize the half of the country. " 

' ' Business in the south is paralyzed by a sense of general insecurity, by 
the terror of confiscation, and the dread of Negro supremacy." 

"It cannot have escaped your attention that from the day on which 
Congress fairly and formally presented the proposition to govern the Southern 
States by military force with a view to the ultimate establishment of Negro 
supremacy, every expression of general sentiment has been more or less 
adverse to it. The affections of this generation cannot be detached from 
the institutions of their ancestors." 

"It is true that cases may occur in which the executive would be com- 
pelled to stand on his rights, and maintain them regardless of all con- 
sequences. If Congress should pass an act which is not only in palpable 
conflict with the constitution, but will certainly, if carried out, produce 
immediate and irreparable injury to the organic structure of the govern- 
ment, and if there be neither judicial remedy for the wrong it inflicts 
nor power in the people to protect themselves without the official aid of 
their elected defender: if, for instance, the legislative department should 
pass an act even through all the forms of law to abolish a coordinate 
department of the government : in such a case the President must take the 
high responsibilities of his office, and save the life of the nation at all 
hazards." 

"It is well and publicly known that enormous frauds have been per- 
petrated on the Treasury, and that colossal fortunes have been made at the 
public expense. This species of corruption has increased, is increasing, and 
if not diminished, will soon bring us into total ruin and disgrace." "The 
system, never perfected was much disorganized by the ' Tenure-of-office 
bill, ' which has almost destroyed official accountability. The President may be 
thoroughly convinced that an officer is incapable, dishonest, or unfaithful 
to the constitution, but, under the law which I have named, the utmost he 
can do is to complain to the senate, and ask the privilege of supplying his 
place with a better man." 

"A disordered currency is one of the greatest political evils. It has 
been asserted by one of our profound and most gifted Statesmen that of 
all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes of mankind ,none has 
been more effectual than that which deludes them with paper money. This 
is the most effectual of inventions to fertilize the rich man's fields, by the 
sweat of the poor man's brow. Ordinary tyranny, oppresssion, excessive 
taxation — these bear lightly on the happiness of the mass of the community 



CONSTITUTIONAL mSTORY OF UNITED STATES. 181 

compared with a fraudulent currency and robberies committed by depreciat- 
ed paper. "It is one of the most successful devices in times of peace or 
war, expansions or revolution to accomplish the transfer of all the precious 
metals from the great mass of the people into the hands of the few." 

' ' The expenses of the military establishment, as well as the number of 
the army, are now three times as great as they have ever been in time of 
peace." The President recommended the passage of such laws as would pro- 
tect naturalized citizens in Europe, but especially in Great Britain. He said 
that England held that the allegiance of British subjects to the crown is 
indefeasible, and not to be absolved by our laws of naturalization. That 
British Judges cited the decisions of the Federal courts of the United States 
in support of their position. He called upon Congress to declare the 
national will on the subject of natuialization. 



182 CIVIL GOVERNMENTOF THE STATES. 



CHAPTER 23. 



Impeachment of President Johnson. 



The first effort to impeach the President, began in the House of Eep- 
resentatives, by Mr. James M. Ashley, of Ohio, who moved, Decem- 
ber 17, 1866, for the appointment of a Committee to inquire whether, 
^^any acts have been done by any officers of the Government of the Uni- 
ted States, which in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes 
or misdemeanors, and whether said acts were designed or calculated to 
overthrow, subvert, or corrupt the Government of the United States, 
or any department thereof. " The resolution received yeas 90^ and 
nays 49. It failed to receive two-thirds vote and was lost. 

Benjamin F. Loan offered a resolution on Impeachment, January 7th, 
1867. On the same day Mr. Kelso offered a similar resolution, and Mr. 
Ashley revived his resolution of 1866, which was referred to a Commit- 
tee on Judiciary. 

February 28, 1867, the Committee reported, notifying the succeed- 
ing Congress of the incompleteness of its labors. 

Mr. Clark, on March 29, moved that the Committee should report 
the first day of the meeting of the House aftei the recess. 

Meanwhile the Committee began to take evidence on February 6th, 

1867, and continued to do so for several months. 

November 25th, 1867, Mr. Boutwell from the Committee submitted a 
report of li63 printed pages of evidence, and closing with a resolution 
^^ that Andrew Johnson be impeached for high crimes and misdemean- 
ors. " The Committee stood as follows : Against Impeachment-Messrs 
Wilson, Republican, of Iowa; Chairman: Woodbridge, Republican, of 
Vermont ; Churchill, Republican, of New York ) Marshall, Democrat 
of Illinois 5 and Eldridge of Wisconsin — 5. 

For Impeachment — Messrs, Boutwell, Republican, of Massachusetts, 
Williams, Republican, of Pennsylvania ; Thomas, Republican of Mary- 
land ; and Lawrence, Republican, of Ohio — 4. 

On the 6th, December the Impeachment resolution was lost — The 
vote stood yeas, 57 (all Republican,) nays, 108, not voting 22 of those 
voting against the resolution 69, were Republicans. This result was 
attributed to the Republican losses in the election. 

January 27th, 1868, the Impeachment was renewed by Mr. Spalding. 

February 13, 1868, Thaddeus Stevens offered a resolution, before 
the Committee on reconstruction, to impeach President Johnson, which 
resolution was tabled by a vote of 6 to 3. This completed the second 
attempt to impeach the president. 

On the 12th, of August, 1867, the President removed Stanton the Sec- 
retary of war, and appointed General Granc as Secretary of war ad in- 
terim. After the meeting of Congress, the President sent a message to 
the Senate giving his reasons for suspending Stanton. On January 13, 

1868, the Senate refused to concur in the suspension, by a vote of 35 to 6. 
This action of the Senate was officially communicated to General 

Grant, who thereupon January 14th, informed the President that his 
functions as Secretary of war ad interim ceased from the moment of the 



COXSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 183 

receipt of the notice from the Senate. Grant then turned over the office to 
Stanton. On the 22nd, of February 1868, Thaddeus Stevens, from the 
Committee on reconstruction, reported to the House a resolution which 
passed by a vote of 128 to 47, for impeaching the President, of high 
crimes and misdemeanors. 

Feb. 21, 1868, the President issued an order for the removal of Stan- 
ton from the war department, and for the appointment of Gen. Thomas, 
as Secretary of war ad interim. 

Thomas went with this order to Stanton and demanded possession of 
the office, books, and papers. In the meantime Mr. Sumner wrote a 
note to Stanton ''to stick" on to the office. 

Feb. 24, 1868, the House of Representatives resolved to impeach the 
President of The United States. 

March, 3d, 1868, Articles of Impeachment were agreed upon by the 
House of Representatives, and on the 5th, they were presented to the 
Senate and read by the chairman of the managers, Mr. Bingham. 

The following is a synopsis of the articles of impeachment : 

§lst, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, had violated the 
Tenure-of-officebill, of March, 2, 1867. The President was charged with 
the removal of Stanton and with the appointment of Gen. Thomas as Sec- 
retary of war ad interim j without the consent of the Senate. 

2nd, He was also charged with a conspiracy for having violated the 
Conspiracy Act of July 31st, 1861, being an act to define and punish 
conspiracy. He was charged with the violation of the act of June 30th, 
1868, for issuing all military orders through the Generals of the army. 

3d, He was charged with making certain speeches, in the cities of Wash- 
ington, Cleveland,and St. Louis. Another charge was, that he had at- 
tempted to bring the Congress of the United States into contempt. 

That he had denied that the Thirty-Ninth Congress had the power to 
make amendments to the Constitution. 

Another charge was, that the President had said that the Thirty- 
Ninth Congress was not the Congress of the United States. 

John A. Bingham of Ohio; George S. Boutwell, of Mass; James F. 
Wilson, of Iowa; John A. Logan, of Illinois; Thomas Williams, of 
Pennsylvania ; Benjamin F. Butler, of Mass. ; and Thaddeus Stevens, of 
Pennsylvania ; were elected managers to conduct the Impeachment. 

March 13th, 1868, proclamation was made by the Sergeant-at-arms 
for the appearance of Andrew Johnson. Stanberry and Curtis entered 
an appearance for the President, and asked for forty days to put in an 
answer. 

This motion was opposed by the managers who wanted to rush the 
trial through with rail road speed — with the same haste as an ordinary 
criminal case before a police Justice. Butler opposed the motion, and in 
abrutal,ungentlemanlyand beastly manner, called the President a crim- 
inal. He said that there was great need to nasten the trial because the 
President was the Chief executive ; that he could use the treasury, the 
army and the navy to overthrow the government, thus prejudicing 
public opinion against the President. Groesbeck, Nelson, and Evarts, 
subsequently appeared as Counsel for the President. 

March 23, 1868, the President's answer was put in. The President 
claimed to have the power to remove Stanton under the act of Congress 
1789, — That Stanton was appointed Secretary of war on the 15, Jan, 1862, 
by Abraham Lincoln, during his first term of office, to hold such office 
during the pleasure of the President. That the Respondeut became Pres- 



184 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

ident on the 15, April 1865, and that Stanton held his office during the 
pleasure of the Respondent. That on Aug, 5, 1867, he removed Mr. 
Stanton by the power invested in him by the Constitution and the Laws. 
Sc that he was responsible for the conducfc of the Secretary of war. 
That he had notified the Senate thereof, on the 12, day of December, 1867. 
That he had authority to make said removal by the Act of Congress, 
Feb, 13, 1795. During the trial Butler displayed his usual arrogance 
and insolence towards the Chief Justice, the President's Counsel, and 
the witnesses. 

He claimed that the Senate was not a Court ; that it was not to be 
governed by law. The managers went back to old English black-letter 
learning — to old musty English law books, and the English parliament 
for their precedents . 

They held that the high Court of Impeachment was bound by no law, 
neither statute nor common, but that the President should be tried, by 
common fame. They held, that popular opinion demanded the con- 
viction of the President. 

The managers further held the absurd idea, that Mr. Johnson was 
only serving out the remainder of Mr. Lincoln's term, and therefore 
that he could not remove Stanton ; that Lincoln's term continued after 
his death. Butler in his speech, went over several American and Eng- 
lish authorities which had no bearing on the case. He failed to make 
out even a plausible case against the President. 

He assailed him in the vilest manner. He called him Judas Iscariot. 
He said , ^^ By murder most foul he succeeded to the Presidency, and 
is the elect of an assassin to that high office." He said that the Presi- 
dent was one of the conspirators. This was worthy of New Orleans 
^'spoons." — The President was charged wdth want of decorum of 
speech. Butler also charged the President with advising and counsel- 
ing the Legislature of the states lately in rebellion, to reject the 14th, 
amendment. This, indeed, A¥as the sum of his sinnmg j he had differed 
with the party that elected him. 

They charged the President with being avery bad and dangerous man 
— that he was a very dangerous person to remain the Chief magistrate 
of the nation — that he had obstructed the laws -, that the managers con- 
sidered him a great criminal 5 that he had trampled the laws under 
foot — that the reason for not granting him time for preparing his defense 
was that he was worse than an ordinary criminal. He was charged with 
advising the Legislature of Alabama to remain firm in its opposition to 
Congress on Reconstruction, and the 14th amendment, Freedman's 
bureau ; and that he had advised the Legislature of South Carolina on 
the same subject. 

The Counsel for the President held that the Tenure-of-office bill gave 
the President power to choose his own cabinet. That Stanton was not 
removed, that he was still in possession of the department of war. That 
it was at most an attempt to remove him as he did not obey the order 
of the President . That the President had the same right to construe 
the law, as Jackson had w^hen he vetoed the bill, for chartering a United 
States Bank. Jackson said ; 

The Congress, Executive, and the Court must each for itself be guided 
by its own opinion of the constitution. Each public officer, who takes 
an oath to support the constitution, swears that he will support it as he 
understands it and not as it is understood by others. That he had the 
same right to remove Stanton that Lincoln had to remove Floyd, the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 185 

Secretary of war, and to appoint Holt. That he had power to re- 
move Stanton by the acts of congress 1787, 1795, 1792. That every 
President and Congress had participated in and acted nnder the con- 
struction given to the act of 1787, from Washington to Lincoln. 

They held the tenure-of-of&ce bill unconstitutional and that Stanton 
did not come within the law — That Stanton had no commission from 
Johnson nor from Lincoln after Lincoln's first term expired. That he 
was merely holding over at the pleasure of both Lincoln and Johnson. 
That consequently it made no difference whether the Senate was in ses- 
sion or not. 

That the office was vacant and that the President had a right to ap- 
point a Secretary of war ad interim, until a new appointment was made 
and confirmed by the Senate. 

That the tenure- of- office bill was unconstitutional and did not em- 
brace the case of Stanton. That the President acted from laudable and 
honest motives and was not guilty of any crime or misdemeanor. 

That from the remarks made at the time of the passage of the tenure- 
of-office bill, it was manifest that it was not intended to embrace the 
Secretaries. 

Honorable Lyman Trumbull, a leading Eepublican, in giving his opin- 
ion before the final vote was taken, said; 

The question of the power to remove from office arose, at the first 
Congress, in 1787. That it was then recognized that the President had 
the right to remove all officers whose term was not fixed by the Consti- 
tution. That every President acted under this recognization down to 
1867. 

That this power was exercised when the Senate was in session, as 
well as during recess. He gave a long list of removals by Lincoln and 
other Presidents while the Senate was in session ; he said that Stanton 
was only holding at the pleasure of the President. That Jackson, 
Van Buren, Tyler, Harrison, Polk, and Fillmore had made ad interim 
appointments during the session of the Senate. That his speeches 
were no ground for impeachment. 

'^ He said painful as it is to disagree with so many political associates 
and friends, whose conscientious convictions have led them to a different 
result, I must, nevertheless, in discharge of the high responsibility un- 
der which I act, be governed by what my reason and judgment tell me 
is the truth, and the justice and the law of this case." To convict 
and depose tlie Chief Magistrate of a great nation when his guilt was 
not made palpable by the record, and for insufficient cause, would be 
fraught with far greater danger to the future of the country than can 
arise from leaving Mr. Johnson in office for the remaining months of 
his term, with powers curtailed and limited as they have been by re- 
cent Legislation. 

Once set the example of impeaching a President, for what when the 
excitement of the hour shall have subsided will ,be regarded as insuffi- 
cient causes as several of those now alleged against the President were 
decided to be by tlie house of Eepresentatives only a few months since, 
? and no future President will be safe who happens to differ with a 
\ majority of the house, and two thirds of the Senate on any measure deem- 
I ed by them important, particularly if of a political character blinded by 
'' partisan zeal. With such an example before them they wiU not scruple 
to remove out of the way any obstacle to the accomplishment of their 
purposes, and what then becomes of the checks and balances of the con- 



186 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

stitution, so carefully devised and so vital to its perpetuity 1 They are 
all gone. In view of the consequences likely to flow from this day's 
proceedings, should they result in conviction on what my j udgment tells 
me are insufficient charges and proofs, I tremble for the future of my 
Country. I cannot be an instrument to produce such a result,and at the 
hazard of the ties even of friendship and affection till calmer times shall 
do justice to my motives^ no alternative is left me but the inflexible dis- 
charge of duty." 

He was followed by Senators Grimes, Johnson, Fessenden and others, 
in very able and eloquent speeches in favor of acquitting the Presi- 
dent. 

Mr. Sumner made a disgraceful speech. He held that the President 
should be expelled the same as a member of Congress. That he should 
not have the benefit of doubt; that they should ^' catch at anything to 
convict the President and save the Republic ; that he should be found 
guilty of getting drunk as well as for all political offences, especially for 
giving his support to slavery, for appointing rebels to office, for vetoing 
several acts of Congress. That he was guilty of inciting the New Or- 
leans massacre ; that he had given offices to rebels and had received 
them at the white house ; that he had removed Sheridan, Pope, and 
Sickles who were military commanders in the five Kingdoms. He ap- 
pealed to the usual party prejudices with all the passion and party ran- 
cor of a stump speaker. 

The following is an extract from his speech ; " Here in the Senate 
we know officially how he has made himself the attorney of slavery, 
the usurper of Legislative powers, the violator of law, the patron of 
rebels, the helping hand of rebellion, the kicker from office of good 
citizens, the open bung-hole of the Treasury, the architect of the whis- 
key ring,the stumbling-block to all good laws by wanton vetoes, and then 
by criminal hindrances all these things are known here beyond ques- 
tion. 

Johnson's cabinet recognized Gen. Thomas as Secretary of war ad 
interim which goes to show that they believed that the President had 
the right to remove Stanton. 

When it was known that Senator Grimes, of Iowa, would vote for 
an acquittal, the Radicals, in the lobby, made a great noise, and used 
very insulting language toward the Senator. They made threatening 
demonstrations, and sang '' Old Grimes is dead the poor old soul." 

At the conclusion of Manager Bingham's speech he was loudly ap- 
plauded in the galleries. The Chief Justice called for order, in vain. 
The galleries were ordered to be cleared, but the ruffians who made the 
disturbance refused to comply. The scene was the most disgraceful 
ever witnessed in Congress. It was necessary for the Sergeant-at-arms 
to use force to expel the disorderly Radical mob ! 

Chief Justice Chase acted, throughout the whole trial with firmness 
and dignity. He ruled according to law and justice, notwithstanding 
the threats of vengeance and impeachment made by the Radicals in and 
out of Congress. He was denounced as a traitor. 

May 16, the Court voted on the eleventh article. The vote was 
35 guilty ; and 19 not guilty. 

The two third vote was wanting, and the Court adjourned to May 26. 
This verdict caused great rej oicing through out the country. Meanwhile 
corrupt influences were attempted in vain to bear on the seven Repub- 
licans or as they were called * ^recreant" Senators^ who were denounced 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 187 

as traitors by tlie Radical press. The house pretended to investigate 
the '^corrupt means" used to influence these Senators to yote against 
the will of their party. 

Onthe 26, a vote was taken on the second and third articles, which re- 
sulted the same as on the eleventh article. Guilty 35, not guilty 19. 
The Radicals, finding that they could not convict the President on these 
articles, voted for an adjournment. The Chief Justice entered Judg- 
ment of acquittal on the three articles voted upon, and the Senate, 
sitting as a Court of impeachment for the trial of Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States, adjourned, sine die. On the same day 
Stanton communicated to the President his relinquishment of the war 
department, and left the same in the care of Assistant- Adjutant-General 
Townsend, and on the 29, of May the Senate confirmed Schofield (nom- 
inated by Johnson, April 23,) as Secretary of war. Stanton retired to 
private life covered with the curses of thousands of his countrymen. 
He was a tyrant of the blackest dye. He suffered thousands of bravQ 
soldiers ,to rot in military prisons. His name will be remembered only 
to be despised." 

This ended the most villainous conspiracy of the Radicals to over- 
throw the constitution and perpetrate usurpation ! 

This was the political high water mark of Radical usurpation ! ! ! 

We conclude this chapter with the following extract from Washing- 
ton, on usurpation. 

^'The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all 
the departments in one, and thus create, whatever the form of Gov- 
ernment, a real despotism. * * * * 

If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of 
the constitutional powers be in any particular, wrong, let it be correct- 
ed by amendments, in the way which the constitution designates. But let 
there be no change by usurpation, for though this in one instance may 
be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free. 
Governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly 
overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefit which 
the use can at any time yield." 

Washington. 



188 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 



COI^STITUTIOK 



We tlie people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE 1. 

Sec. 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house 
of representatives. 

Sec. 2. The house of representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several states ', and the 
electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors 
of the most numerous branch of the state legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the 
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state 
in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral states which may be included within this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of 
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. 
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first 
meeting of the congress of the United States, and within every subse- 
quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative ; and until 
such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be 
entitled to choose three ; Massachusetts eight ', Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations one ; Connecticut five -, New York six ; New Jersey 
four ; Pennsylvania eight ; Delaware one ; Maryland six 5 Virginia ten ; 
North Carolina five 5 South Carolina five ; and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the ex- 
ecutive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such va- 
cancies. 

The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other 
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sec. 3. The senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; 
and each senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first 
election, they shall be divided, as equally as maj be, into three classes. 
The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expi- 
ration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the 
fourth year; andoftlie third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so 
that one-third may be chosen every second year j and if vacancies hap- 
pen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature o 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 189 

any state, tlie executive thereof may make temporary appointments un- 
til the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such yacan- 
cies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he 
shall be chosen. 

The vice-president of the United States shall be president of the sen- 
ate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 

The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president ^9 ?'o- 
tempore, in tho absence of the vice-president, or when he shall exercise 
the office of president of the United States. 

The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the 
president of the United States is tried, the Chief-justice shall preside; 
and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the m.embers present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
honor, trust or profit, under the United States ; but the party convict- 
ed, shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judg- 
ment and punishment, according to law. 

Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for sen- 
ators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the leg- 
islature thereof; but the congress may, at any time, by law make or al- 
ter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 

The congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
meetings shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall 
by law api)oint a different day. 

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members ; and a majority of each shall consti- 
tute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent 
members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may 
provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its 
members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to 
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment, 
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house 
on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be en- 
tered on the journal. 

Neither house during the session of congress, shall, without the con- 
sent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. 6. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the 
treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except treason, 
felony, and breach of the i^eace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to, or 
returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was, 



190 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

elected, be appointed to any civil office under tlie authority of the Un- 
ted States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof 
shall have been increased during such time ; and no i^erson holding any 
office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during 
his continuance in office. 

Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of 
representatives ; but the senate may propose or concur with amendments 
as on other bills. 

Every bill which shallhave passed the house of representatives and the 
senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the 
United States ; if he approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return 
it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, 
who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed 
to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house 
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec- 
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. 
But in all cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill, 
shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill 
shall not be returned by the president within ten days, (Sundays ex- 
cepted,) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the congress by their 
adjournment prevent it's return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the sen- 
ate and house of representatives may be necessary, (except on a ques- 
tion of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United 
States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, 
or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the 
senate and house of representatives, according to the rules and limita- 
tions prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sec. 8. The congress shall have power, 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts 
and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United 
States ; but all duties, imposts, and exercises shall be uniform through- 
out the United States : 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States : 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
states, and with the Indian tribes : 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on 
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States : 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and 
fix the standard of weights and measures : 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
current coin of the United States : 

To establish post-offices and post-roads : 

To promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing 
for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries : 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court : To define and 
punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences 
against the law of nations: 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 191 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captares on land and water: 

To raise and support armies -, but no appropriation of money to that 
use, shall be for a longer term than two years : 

To provide and maintain a navy : 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and na- 
val forces : 

To provide for calling forth the militia, to execute the laws of the Un- 
ion, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : 

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia and 
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of 
the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment 
of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the 
discipline prescribed by congress. 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such 
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particu- 
lar states, and the acceptance of congress, become the seat of govern- 
ment of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all plac- 
es purchased, by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the 
same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- 
yards and other needful buildings : and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by 
this constitution in the government of the United States, or in any de- 
partment or officer thereof. 

Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, 
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding 
ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, un- 
less when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may re- 
quire it. 

No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion 
to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. No 
preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to 
the ports of one state over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to 
or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of 
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of 
the receipts and expenditures of all public money, shall be published 
from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States, and no 
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without 
the consent of congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title 
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- 
tion ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of 
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the 
obligation of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 

No state shall, without the consent of the congress, lay any imposts 



192 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely neces- 
sary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties 
and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the 
use of the treasury of the United States, and all such laws shall be sub- 
ject to the revision and control of the congress. No state shall, with- 
out the consent of congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or 
ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with 
another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actu- 
ally invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Sec. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of 
four years, and together with the vice-president, chosen for the same 
term, be elected as follows : 

Each state shall appoint in such manner as the legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators 
and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the congress j 
but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

The electors sliall meet in their respective states, and vote by bal- 
lot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not bQ an inhabitant of 
the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the 
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the president of the senate. The pres- 
ident of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of rep- 
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be count- 
ed. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the pres- 
ident, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors ap- 
pointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and 
have an equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall 
immediately choose , by ballot, one of them for president ; and if no 
person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list, the said 
house shall, in like manner^ choose the president. But in choosing the 
president, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from 
each state having one vote : a quorum for this purpose shall consist of 
a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of 
all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the 
choice of tlie president, the person having the greatest number of votes 
of the electors, shall be the vice-president. But if there should remain 
two or more who have equal votes, the senate shall choose from them, 
by ballot, the vice-president. 

, The congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and the 
day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

No x>erson, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible 
to the office of president ; neither shall any person be eligible to that 
office, who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and 
been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the president from office, or of his death 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES Wd 

resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said 
oflBce, the same shall devolve on the vice-president, and the congress 
inay,bj law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or ina- 
bility, both of the president and vice-president, declaring what officer 
shall then act as president, and such officer shall act accordingly, until 
the disability be removed, or a president shall be elected. 

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- 
pensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the 
period for which he shall have been elected ; and he shall not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any 
of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation. 

'^I do solemnly swear (or affirm)thatl will faithfully execute the office 
of president of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States." 

Sec. 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when 
called into the actual service of the United States, he may require the 
opinion in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive de- 
partments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices ', and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for of- 
fences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the sen- 
ate, to make treaties, previded two-thirds of the senators present concur, 
and he hall nominate, and by and Tvith the advice and consent of the 
senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, 
judgesof the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States 
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which 
shall be established by law. But the congress may, by law, vest the 
appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the presi- 
dent alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may hap- 
pen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions, which 
shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sec. 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the congress informa- 
tion of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration, 
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient : he may on 
extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in 
case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjourn- 
ment, he may, adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he 
shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed ; and shall commission all the 
officers of the United States. 

Sec. 4. The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and 
conviction of, treason^ bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

AETICLE III. 

Sec 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in 
one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the congress may, 
from time to time ordain and establish. The judges both of the su- 



194 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

preme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior 5 
and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation 
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. 

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and 
equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, 
and treaties made, or which shall be made under their authority ; to all 
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ^ to all 
cases of admiralty and maratime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which 
the United States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more 
states, between a state and citizens of another state, between citizens of 
different states, between citizens of the same state claiming lands under 
grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, 
and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
and those in which a state shall be a party, the supreme court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the 
supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, 
with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall 
make 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by 
jury, and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall 
have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the 
trial shall be at such place or places as the congress may by law have 
directed. 

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy- 
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

The congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason j 
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, 
except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Sec. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the con- 
gress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, 
records and proceedings, shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several states. 

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, 
who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall, on de- 
mand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be de- 
livered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one state under the laws there- 
of, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor ; but shall be deliver- 
ed uj) on claim of the party to whom such serv^ice or labor may be due. 

Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the congress into this 
Union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the juris- 
diction of any other state, nor any state be formed by the junction of 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 195 

two or more states or parts of states, without the consent of the legis- 
atures of the states concerned, as well as of the congress. 

The congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other x^i'operty he- 
longing to the United States ; and nothing in this constitution shall be 
so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any 
particular state. 

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this 
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion ; and on application of the legislature, or of the execu- 
tive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic vio- 
lence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution ; or, on the 
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall 
call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall 
be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by 
conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of 
ratification may be proposed by the congress -, Provided, That no amend- 
ment, which may be made i)rior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the 
ninth section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, 
shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the senate. 

ARTICLE YL 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adop- 
tion of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States un- 
der this constitution, as under the confederation. 

This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be 
made in pursuance thereof 5 and all treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land ) and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby ; 
any thing in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members 
of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, 
both of the United States, and of the several states, shall be bound by 
an oath or affirmation, to support this constitution ; but no religious test 
shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust un- 
der the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient 
for the establishment of this constitution between the states so ratify- 
ing the same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the states present, 
the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thou- 



196 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

sand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the 

United States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof, we 

have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEOEGE WASHINGTON, President, 
and Deputy from Virginia. 

Neio Hampshire. — John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. 

Massachusetts. — Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. ; 

Connecticut. — William Samuel Johnson, Eoger Sherman. 

New York. — Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey. — William Livingston, David Brearly, William Patter- 
son, Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersol, James Wilson, 
Gouverneur Morris. 

Delaware. — George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jun, John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. — James M'Henry, Daniel of St, Tho, Jenifer, Daniel Car- 
roll. 

Virginia. — John Blair, James Madison, Jun. 

North Carolina. — William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh 
Williamson. 

South Carolina. — John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. — William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest, WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 



The conventions of a number of the states, having, at the time of their 
adopting the constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent mis- 
construction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and re- 
strictive clauses should be added, congress, at the session begun and 
held at the city of New York, on Wednesday, the 4th of March, 
1789, proposed to the legislatures of the several states twelve amend- 
ments, ten of which only were adopted. They are the ten first fol- 
lowing : 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. 

First Session, First Congress, March 4th, 1789. 
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 
ble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE 11. 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
state the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be in- 
fringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without;^ 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 197 

the consent of tlie owner ; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be 
prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE lY. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vi- 
olated ; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, support- 
ed by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be 
searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE Y. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infa- 
mous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, 
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, 
when in actual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any 
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of 
life or limb ; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a wit- 
ness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, with- 
out due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public 
use without just compensation. 

ARTICLE YI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the titate and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have 
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature 
and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against 
him ', to have compulsorj^ process for obtaining witnesses in his favor -, 
and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence, 

ARTICLE Yll. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no 
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the 
United States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE YIIL 

J Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted^ 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights, shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respective- 
ly, or to the.people. 



[98 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 



ARTICLE XT. 

Third Congress, Second Session, December 2, 1793. 
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against 
one of theUnited States by citizens of another state^ or by citizens or 
subjects of any foreign state. 

ARTICLE XII. 

JEighih Congress, First Session, October 17, 1803. 
The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot 
for president and vice-president, one of whom, at least shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the per- 
son voted for as vice-president -, and they shall make distinct lists of all 
persons voted for as president, and of all persons voted for as vice- 
president; and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall 
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of 
the United States, directed to the president of the senate -, the presi- 
dent of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of rep- 
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be coun- 
ted: the person having the greatest number of votes for president, shall 
be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of 
those voted for as president, the house of representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the president. But in choosing the president, 
the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state 
having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states 
shall be necessary to a clioice. And if the house of rejiresentatives 
shall not choose a president whenever the right of choice shall devolve 
upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the 
vice-president shall act as president, as in the case of death or other 
constitutional disability of the president. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as vice-president, 
shall be the vice-president, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ', and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the 
vice-president: a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds 
of the whole number of senators, and a majority of'the whole number 
shall be necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president, 
shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Sec. 1. Slavery abolished, — Neifner slavery nor involuntary srervi- 
tude except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall liave 
peen duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or in any 
place subject to their jurisdiction. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 0¥ UNITED STATES. 199 

Sec. 2. Power of Congress. — Congress shall have power to enforce 
tMs article by appropriate legislation. (Declared adopted by tlie Sec- 
retary of state Feb. 18, 1865) 

1 Abb, (U. S,) 28; 1 DiU, C. R. 248. 

\RTICLE Xiy. 

Sec. 1. Who are citizens. — All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subjects to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immuni- 
ties of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any state dei)rive any 
person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny 
to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. 

Sec. 2. Representatives, how apportioned, — Representatives shall 
be apportioned among the several states according to their respective 
numbers: counting the whole number of persons in each state, exclud- 
ing Indians not taxed, but when the right to vote at any election for 
the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United/ 
States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judical officers 
of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof is denied to any of 
the male inhabitants of such state being twenty-one years of age, and 
citizens of the United States, or in any way abridge, except for j)artic- 
ipation in the rebellion or other crime, the basis of rei)resentation 
therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty- 
one years of age in such state. 

Sec. 3. Eligibility to office, &c. — ^No person shall be Senator or Rei^- 
resentative in Congi-ess, or elector of President or Vice-President or 
hold any office civil or military, under the United States or under any 
state, who having previously taken the oath as a member of Congress 
or.au officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, ^ 
or an executive or judical officer of any state, to support the constitu- 
tion of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
against the same, or has given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof.. 

But Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each house remove such 
disability. 

Sec. 4. Validity of public debt not to be questioned. — 
The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by 
law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any 
State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of in- 
surrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim fortiie^ 
loss or emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, obligations and 
claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5 That Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate 
legislation the provisions of this article. 

(Declared adopted by the Secretary of State, 28th of July, 1869.) 
44 Alo. 367; Cal. 658.; 1 Dill. C. R. 344. 



200 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 



ARTICLE XV. 



Sec. 1. In regard to suffrage, — The rights of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or 
any State, on account of race or color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by the ap' 
propriate legislation. 

(Declared adopted by the Secretary of State, March 30, 1870. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 201 



NATIONAL PLATFOKMS. 



Before the nomination of Gen. Jackson by the Legislature of Ten 
nessee, Candidates for President and Vice President were nomin ated 
by '■'■ Congressional Caucus", so that National conventions are of com- 
paratively recent origin, as also party i)latforms. 



U..S. Anti-masonic convention- 

The United States Anti-masonic convention was held at Philadel- 
phia in September, 1830, when the following resolution was adopted ; 
^^ Resolved, that it is recommended to the jDCople of the United States, 
opposed to Secret Societies,to meet in convention on Monday the 26th day 
of September, 1831, at the city of Baltimore by delegates equal in num- 
ber to their representatives in both houses of Congress, to make nom- 
inations of suitable candidates for the office of President and Vice-Pres- 
ident, to be supjyorted at the next election, and for the transaction of 
such other business as the cause of Anti-Masonry may require." 



The Democratic convention met at Baltimore in May, 1832, when the 
following platform was adopted j 

''■ Eesolved, that each state be entitled, in the nomination to be made 
for the Vice-Presidency, to a number of votes equal to the number to 
which they will be entitled in the electoral colleges, under the new ap- 
portionment in voting for President and Vice-President 5 and that two- 
thirds of the whole number of the votes in the convention shall be nec- 
essary to constitute a choice." 

: The following resolution was adopted : 

, '■^ Resolved that it be recommended to the several delegations in this 
convention, in place of a general address from this body to the people 
''of the United States, to make such explanation by address, report, or 
otherwise, to their respective constituents of the object, proceedings 
and result of them eeting, as they may deem expedient. 



Henry Clay platform of 1831 : 

" The political history of the union for the last three years exhibits 
a series of measures plainly dictated in all their ijrincipal features by 
blind cupidity or vindictive party spirit, marked throughout by a dis- 
regard of good policy, justice, and every high and generous sentiment, 
and terminating in a dissolution of the cabinet under circumstances 
more discreditable than any of the kind to be met with in the annals of 
the civilized world." 

'^ On the great subjects of internal policy, the course of the President 
has been so inconsistent and vacillating, that it is impossible for any 
party to place confidence in his character, or to consider him as a true 



202 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

and effective friend. By avowing liis approbation of a judicious tariff, 
at the same time recommending to Congress precisely the same policy 
which had been adopted as the best plan of attack by the opponents of 
that measure j by admitting the constitutionality and expediency of in- 
ternal improvements of a National character, and at the same moment 
negotiating the most important bills of this discription which were pre- 
sented to him by Congress, the President has shown that he is either a 
secret enemy to the system, or that he is willing to sacrifice the most 
important national objects in a vain attempt to conciliate the conflict- 
ing interest, or rather adverse party feeling and opinions of different 
sections of the country," 



The young men of the Clay party held a convention at the Capital 
May 11, 1832, when the following i^latform was adopted ; 

'^ Resolved, that an adequate protection to American Industry is in- 
dispensable to the prosperity of the country ; and that an abandonment 
of the policy at this period would be attended with consequences ruin- 
ous to the best interests of the Nation." 

'' Resolved, that a uniform sj^stem of internal improvements, sustain- 
ed and supported by the general government, is calculated to secure, 
in the highest degree, the harmony, the strength and the x^ermanency 
of the Republic. 

^' Resolved, that the indiscriminate removal of public officers, for a 
mere difference of political opinion, is a gross abuse of power ; and that 
the doctrines lately boldly preached in the United States Senate, that ''to 
the victors belong the spoils of the vanquished," is detrimental to the 
interests, corrupting to the morals, and dangerous to the liberties of 
the people of this countr3^" 



The Democratic convention which met at Baltimore, May 1835,unan- 
imously nominated Van Buren for President. No platform was adopt- 
ed by this convention. 



The Whig National convention met at Harrisburg, Pa. December 4, 
1839, and nominated William Henry Harrison for President. It adopt- 
ed no platform. 

A convention of abolitionists met at Warsaw, N. Y. Nov. 13, 1839. 
James G. Birney, of New York, and Francis J. Lemoyne, of Pa. were 
nominated for President and Vice-President. The following platform 
was adopted : 

'^ Resolved, that in our judgment every consideration of duty and ex- 
pediency which ought to control the action of Christian freemen, re- 
quires of the abolitionists of the U. S. to organize a distinct and inde- 
pendent political party, embracing all the necessary means for nomina- 
ting Candidates for office and sustaining them by public suffrage." 

A Democratic National convention met at Baltimore, May 5, 1840. 
The following platform was adopted : 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES 203 

" 1. Resolved, that the Federal Government is one of limited pow- 
ers, derived solely from the constitution, ard the grants of power 
shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments 
and agents of the government, and that it is inexpedient and danger- 
ous, to exercise doubtful constitutional powers." 

" 2. Resolved, that the constitution does not confer authority upon 
the general government the power to commence or carry on a general 
system of internal improvement." 

^' 3. Resolved, that the constitution does not confer authority upon 
the Federal Government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of 
the several states, contracted for local internal improvements or other 
state i)urposes ; nor would such assumption be just or expedient." 

^'4. Resolved, that justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Gov- 
ernment to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another 
portion of our common Country — that every citizen and every section 
of the country has a right to demand and insist u]3on an ample protec- 
tion of persons and i)roperty from domestic violence or foreign aggres- 
sion." 

'^ 5. Resolved, that it is the duty of every branch of the government 
to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our pub- 
lic affairs, and that no more revenue ought to l3e raised than is required 
to defray the necessary expenses of the government." 

" 6. Resolved, that Congress has no power to cliarter a United States 
Bank, that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the 
best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican- institutions 
and the liberties of the people, and calculated to i)lace the business of 
the country within the control of a concentrated money power, and a- 
bove the laws and the will of the iieople." 

^' 7. Resolved, that Congress has no jiower under the constitution, to 
interfere with or control the domestic constitutions of the several 
states ; and that such states are the sole and proper judges of every 
thing pertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitu- 
tion; that all efforts, by abolitionists or others, made to induce con- 
gress to interfere with the questions of slavery, or to take incipient 
steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming 
and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevita- 
ble tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the 
stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be counte- 
nanced by any friend to our Political Institutions." 

" 8. Resolved, that the separation of mone^^s of the Government from 
banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the 
government and the rights of the people. 

'^ 9. Resolved, that the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in 
the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, 
which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed 
of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the democratic 
faith ; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becoming 
citizens, and the owners of soil among us, ought to be resisted with the 
same spirit wliich swept the Alien and Sedition Laws from our statute 
book." 

^' Whereas, several of the states which have nominated Martin Van 
Buren as Candidate for the Presidency, have put in nomination differ- 
ent individuals as Candidates for Vice-President, thus indicating a di- 
versity of opinion as to the person best entitled to the nomination 



204 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

and whereas some of the said states are not represented in this conven- 
tion, therefore, 

'' Resolved, that the convention deem it expedient at thepresent time 
not to choose between the individuals in nomination, but to leave the 
decision to their Democratic fellow-citizens in the several states, trust- 
ing that before the election shall take place, their opinions will become 
so concentrated as to secure the choice of a Vice-President by the Elec- 
toral College." 



The Whig National convention met at Baltimore, May 1, 1844. 

The following platform was adopted ; 

^' Resolved, that these principles may be summed as comprising a 
well regulated National Currency — a tariff for revenue to defray the 
necessary expenses of the government, and discriminating with special 
reference to the protection of the domestic labor of the country — the 
distribution of the proceeds from the sales of the Public Lands — a sin- 
gle term for the Presidency — a reform of executive usurpation — and 
generally such an administration of the affairs of the country, as shall 
impart to every branch of the public service the greatest practicable 
efficiency, controlled by a well-regulated and wise economy." 



A Democratic National Convention met at Baltimore, May 27, 1844, 
when the following platform was adopted ; 

'^ Resolved, that the proceeds of the Public Lands ought to be sacred- 
ly applied to the national objects specified in the constitution, and that 
we are opposed to the laws lately adopted and to any law for the distri- 
bution of such proceeds among the several states, as alike inexpedient 
in policy and repugnant to the constitution. " 

'^ Resolved, that we are decidedly opposed to taking from the Presi- 
dent the qualified veto power by which he is enabled under restrictions 
and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public interest, to 
suspend the passage of a bill, whose merits cannot secure the approv- 
al of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives until the 
judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has thrice 
saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination 
of the Bank of the United States." 

'' Resolved, that our title to the whole of the Territory of Oregon is 
clear and unquestionable ; that no portion of the same ought not to be 
ceded to England or any other power ; and that the reoccupation of 
Oregon and the reannexation of Texas at the earliest practicable peri- 
od are great American measures, which this convention recommends to 
the cordial support of the Democracy of the Union." 



The Liberty party held a convention at Buffalo, August' 30, 1&4-3. 
James G. Birney was nominated for President, and Thomas Morris for 
Vice-President. The following platform was adopted ; 

^' Resolved, that human brotherhood is a cardinal principle of true 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 205 

Democracy, as well as of pure Christianity, which spurns all incon- 
sistent limitations ; and neither the political party which repudiates 
it nor the political system which is not based upon it, can be truly Dem- 
ocratic or permanent. 

^' Eesolved, that the Liberty Party, placing itself upon this broad 
principle, will demand the absolute and unqualified divorce of the gen- 
eral Government from slavery, and also the restoration of equality of 
rights, among men, in every state where the party exists, or may ex- 
ist. 

^^ Eesolved, that the Liberty Party has not been organized for any 
temporary purposes by interested politicians, but has arisen from among 
the people in consequence of a conviction, hourly gaining ground, that 
no other party in the country represents the true principles of American 
liberty, or the true spirit of the constitution of the United States. 

^' Eesolved, that the Liberty Party has not been organized merely 
for the overthrow of slavery ; its first decided efforts must, indeed be 
directed against slaveholding as the grossest and most revolting man- 
ifestation of despotism, but it will also carry out the principle of equal 
rights into all its practical consequences and applications, and support 
every just measure conductive to individual and social freedom. 

'' Eesolved, that the Liberty Party is not a sectional party but a na- 
tional party 5 was not originated in a desire to accomplish a single ob- 
ject, but in a comprehensive regard to the great interests of the whole 
country ; is not a new party, nor a third party, but is the party of 1776 
reviving ihe principles of tliat memorable era, and striving to carry, 
them into practical application. 

^^ Eesolved, that it was understood in the times of the declaration 
and the constitution, that the existence of slavery in some of the states, 
was a derogation of the principles of American Liberty, and a deep 
stain upon the character of the country, and the implied faith of the 
states and the Nation was pledged that slavery should never be ex- 
tended beyond its then existing limits, but should be gradually, and 
yet at no distant day, wholly abolished by state authority. 

Eesolved, that the faith of the states and the Nation, thus pledged, 
was most nobly redeemed by the voluntary abolition of slavery in sev- 
eral of the states, and by the adoption of the ordinance of 1787, for the 
government of the Territory northwest of the river Ohio, then the only 
Territory in the United States, and consequently the only territory sub- 
ject in this respecfc to the control of congress by which ordinance slav- 
ery was forever excluded from the vast regions which now comprise 
the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and the Territory of 
Wisconsin, and an incapacity to bear up any other than freemen, was 
impressed on the soil itself. 

Eesolved, that the faith of the states and the Nation thus j)ledged, 
has been shamefully violated by the omission on the part of many of 
the states, to take any measures whatever for the abolition of slavery 
within their respective limits ; by the continuance of slavery in the 
District of Columbia, and in the Territories of Louisiana and Florida ; 
by the legislation of Congress ; by the protection afforded by national 
legislation and negation to slaveholding in American vessels, on the 
high seas employed in the coastwise slave traffic -, and by the extension 
of slavery far beyond its original limits, by acts of congress, admitting 
new slave states into tlie Union." 

„ Eesolved, that the fundamental truths of the Declaration of Inde- 



206 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

pendence, tliat all men are endowed by tlieir Creator with certain ina- 
lienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- 
ness, was made the fundamental law of our National Government by 
that amendment of the constitution which declares that no person shall 
be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law. 

^' Eesolved, that we recognize as sound, the doctrine maintained by 
slaveholding jurists^ that slavery is against natural rights, and strictly 
local, and that its existence and continuance rests on no other support 
than state legislation, and not on any authority of Congress. 

^'Resolved, that the geoeral government has under the constitution 
no power to establish or continue slavery anywhere, and therefore that 
all treaties and acts of Congress establishing, continuing or favoring 
slavery in the District of Columbia, in the Territory of Florida, or on 
the high seas, are unconstitutional, and all attempts to hold men as 
property, within the limits of exclusive national jurisdiction ought to 
be prohibited by law. 

^^ Resolved, that the provision of the constitution of the United States, 
which confers extraordinary political powers on owners of slaves, and 
thereby constituting the two hundred and fifty thousand slaveholders 
in the slave states a privileged aristocracy ; and the provision for the 
reclamation of fugitive slaves from service are Anti-Republican in 
their character, dangerous to the liberties of the people, and ought to 
be abrogated. 

'^ Resolved, that the practical operation of the second of these provi- 
sions is seen in the enactment of the act of congress respecting persons 
escaping from their masters, which act, if the construction given to it 
by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Prigg vs. 
Pennsylvania, be correct, nullifies the habeas corpus acts of all the 
states, takes away the whole legal security of personal freedom, and 
ought therefore to be immediately repealed. 

''Resolved, that the peculiar patronage and support hitherto extend- 
ed to slaver}^ and slaveholding, by the general government, ought to 
be immediately withdrawn, and the example and influence of national 
authority ought to be arrayed on the side of Liberty and Freedom. 

'' Resolved, that the practice of the general government, which pre- 
vails in the slave states, of employing slaves upon the public works, 
instead of free laborers, and paying aristocratic masters, with a view 
to secure or reward, political services, is utterly indefensible and ought 
to be abandoned. 

'•'' Resolved, that freedom of speech, and of the press, and the right 
of petition, and the right of trial by jury, are sacred and inviolable ; 
and that all rules, regulations and laws, in derogation of either are op- 
pressive, unconstitutional, and not to be endured by free people. 

'' Resolved, that we regard voting in an eminent degree, as a moral 
and religious duty, which, when exercised, should be by voting for 
those who will do all in their power for immediate emancipation. 

'' Resolved, that this convention recommend to the friends of liberty 
in all those Free States where any inequality of rights and privileges 
exists on account of color, to employ their utmost energies to remove 
all such remnants and effects of the slave system. 

'' Whereas the constitution of these United States is a series of 
agreements, covenants, or contracts between the people of the United 
States each with all, and all with each j and 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 207 

" Whereas, it is a principle of Universal Morality, that the moral 
laws of the creator are i:)araniouut to all human laws ; or, in the lan- 
guage of an apostle, that '^ we ought to obey God iMtlier than men j" 
and, 

^^ Whereas, the principle of common law — that any contract, coven- 
ant, or agreement to do an act derogatory to natural right, is vitiated 
and annulled by its inherent immorality — has been recognized by one 
of the justices of the Supreme Court, of the United States, who in a re- 
cent case expressly holds that any contract, that rests upon such a 
basis is void, and 

^^ Whereas, the third clause of the second section of the fourth arti- 
cle of the constitution of the United States, when construed as pro- 
viding for the surrender of a Fugitive Slave, does rest upon such a 
basis, in that it is a contract to rob a man of a natural right — namely, 
his natural right to his own liberty, and is, therefore, absolutely void, 
therefore, 

^' Resolved, that we hereby give it to be distinctly understood by 
juis nation and the world, that, as abolitionists, considering that the 
strength of our cause lies in its righteousness, and our hoj)e for it in 
our conformity to the laws of God, and our respect for the rights of 
man, we owe it to the sovereign Ruler of the universe, as a proof of our 
allegiance to him, in all our civil relations and offices, whether as pri- 
vate citizens or as public functionaries sworn to support the constitu- 
tion of the United States to regard and to treat the third clause of the 
fourtli article of that instrument, whether applied to the case of a fugi- 
tive slave, as utterly null and void and consequently as forming no 
part of the constitution of the United States, whenever we are called 
upon or sworn to support it." 

Resolved, that the power given to congress by the constitution, to 
provide for calling out the militia to suppress insurrection, does not 
make it the duty of the government to maintain slavery by military 
force, much less does it make it the duty of the citizens to form a part 
of such military force. When freemen unsheath the sword it should 
be to strike for Liberty, not for despotism. 

Resolved. That to i)reserve the peace of the citizens, and secure the 
blessings of freedom, the Legislature of each of tlie Free States ought to 
keep in force suitable statutes rendering it penal for any of its inhabi- 
tants to transport, or aid in transporting from such state any person 
sought to be thus transported, merely because subject to the slave laws 
of any other state ; this remnant of independence being accorded to 
the Free States, by the decision of the Supreme Court, in the case of 
Prigg vs. the state of Pennsylvania. 



The Whig National Convention 1848 : 

Resolved. That no candidate shall be entitled to receive the nomi- 
nation of tliis convention for President or Vice-President, unless he 
has given assurances that he will abide by and support the nomination ; 
that if nominated he will accept the nomination ; that he will consider 
himselfthe candidate of the Whigs, and use all proper influence to bring 
into practical operation the principles and measures of the Whig Party. 

Resolved. That as the first duty of the representatives of the Whig 



208 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

party is to preserve the principles and integrity of the party, the claims 
of no candidate can be considered by this convention unless such candi- 
date stands pledged to support, in good faith, the nominees and to be 
the exponent of the Whig Principles. 

''Kesolved. That the Whig Party, through its representatives here 
agrees to abide by the nomination of Gen. Zachary Taylor, on condition 
that he will accept the nomination as the candidate of the Whig Party, 
and adhere to its great fundamental principles — no extension of slave 
territory — no acquisition of foreign territory by conquest — protection to 
American industry, and opposition to executive usurpation. " 

^'Resolved. That Gen. Zachary Taylor, of Louisdanna, and Millard 
Fillmore, of New York, be, and they are hereby unanimously nominated 
as the Whig candidates for President and Vice-President of the United 
States. " 

'^Eesolved. That while all power is denied to Congress, under the 
constitution to control, or in any way interfere with the institution of 
slavery within the several states of this union, it nevertheless has the 
power and it is the duty of Congress to prohibit the introduction or 
existence of slavery in any territory now possessed, which may hereafter 
be acquired, by the United States. " The convention failed to pass any 
of the above resolutions and ran Gen. Taylor without a fJatform. 



The Democratic platform 1848. 

^^ 1st, Resolved. That the American Democracy place their trust in 
the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the 
American people." 

'' 2nd, Resolved. That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our 
political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world, as the 
great moral element in a form of government springing from and upheld 
by tlie popular will ; and we contrast it with the creed and practice of 
Federalism, under whatever name or form, which seeks to palsy the will 
of the constituent, and which conceives no imposture too monstrous for 
the popular credulity. " 

''3d, Resolved. Therefore, that entertaining these views the demo- 
cratic party of this union, through the delegates assembled in general 
convention of the states, coming together in a spirit of concord, of de- 
votion to the doctrines and faith of a free representative government and 
appealing to their fellow-citizens for the rectitiid-e of their intentions, 
renew and assert before the American people, the declaration of principle, 
avowed by them, on a former occasion, when in general conventions 
they presented their candidates for the popular suffrage. " 

''Resolved. That it is the duty of any branch of the Government, to 
enforce and practice the most rigid economy in consulting our public 
affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required 
to defray the necessary expenses of the Government, and for the 
gradual but certain extinction of the debt created by the prosecution 
of a just and necessary war, after peaceful relations shall have been 
restored. And that the results of Democratic Legislation, in this and 
all other financial measures upon which issues have been made 
between the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to 
candid and practical men of all parties, their soundness, safety and 
reliability in all business pursuits. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 200. 

'' Eesolved. That the proceeds of the Public Lands ought to be 
sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the constitution } 
and that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such pro- 
ceeds among the States, as alike inexpedient in policy aud repugnant 
to the Constitution." 

" Resolved. That we are decidely opposed to taking from the Presi- 
dent the qualified veto powers, by which he is enabled, under restric- 
tions and responsibilities amply sufiflcient to guard the iDublic interests, 
to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot secure the appro- 
val of two -thirds of the Senate and Honse of Representatives until 
the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and w^hich has 
saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domina- 
tion of the Bank of the United States, and from a corrupting system 
of general internal improvements," 

"Resolved. That the war with Mexico, provoked on her part, by 
years of insult and injury, was commenced by her army crossing the 
Rio Grande, attacking the American troops and invading our sister state 
of Texas, and that upon all the principles of patriotism and the laws of 
Nations, it is a just and necessary war on our part in which every 
American citizen should have shown himself on the side of his country, 
and neither morally or physically, by word or by deed, have given 
* aid and comfort to the enemy." 

Resolved. That we would be rejoiced at the assurance of a peace 
with Mexico, founded on just principles of indemnity for the i)ast and 
security for the future ; but that while the ratification of the liberal 
treaty offered to Mexico remains in doubt, it is the duty of the country 
to sustain the administration and to sustain the country in every meas- 
ure necessary to provide for the vigorous prosecution of the war, 
should that treaty be rejected." 

'' Resolved. That the officers and soldiers who have carried the 
arms of their country into Mexico, have crowned it with imperishable 
glory. Their unconquerable courage, tlieir daring enterprise, their 
imfaltering perseverance and fortitude wlien assailed on all sides by 
innumerable foes, and that more formidable enemy — the disease of the 
climate — exalts their devoted patriotism into the highest heroism, and 
gives them a right to tlie profound gratitude of their country,and the 
admiration of the world." 

" Resolved. That the Democratic National Convention of 30 States 
composing the American Republic, tender their fraternal congratula- 
tions to the National Convention of tlie Republic of France, now assem- 
bled as the free suffrage Representatives of the sovereignty of thirty- 
five millions of Republicans, to establish government on those eternal 
principles of equal rights for which their Lafayette and our Wasliing- 
ton fought side by side in the struggle for our National Independence ; 
and we would especially convey to them and to the whole people 
of France, our earnest wishes for the consolidation of their liberties, 
througli the wisdom that shall guide their councils, on the basis of a 
Democratic Constitution, not derived from the grants or concessions 
of kings or dynasties, but originating from the only true source of polit- 
ical power recognized in the State of this Union ; the inherent and in- 
alienable rights of the people in their sovereign capacity to make and to 



210 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

amend their form of Grovernment, in such manner as the welfare of the 
community may require." 

^'Kesolved. That the recent development of this grand political 
truth, of the sovereignty of the people and their capacity and power 
for self Government, which is prostrating thrones and erecting Repub- 
lics on the ruins of despotism in the old world ; we feel that a high 
and sacred duty is devolved, with increased responsibility, upon the 
democratic party of this country, as the party of the people, to sustain 
and advance among us, Constitutional Liberty, equality and fraternity, 
by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive Legislation for 
the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant 
and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the 
Constitution, which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace 
and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it is, and the Union 
as it shall be, in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this 
great and progressive people." 

^^ Resolved. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded through 
the American minister at Paris, to the National Convention of the 
Republic of France." 

"Resolved. That the fruits of the great political triumph of 1844, 
which elected James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, President and Vice- 
President of the United States, have fulfilled the hopes of the Demo- 
cracy of the Union in defeating the declared purposes of their opponents 
in creating a National Bank, in preventing the corrupt and unconstitu- 
tional distribution of the land proceeds from the common treasury of 
the Union for local purposes, in protecting the currency and labor of 
the country from the ruinous fluctuations, and guarding the money of 
the country for the use of the people by the establishment of the 
constitutional treasury ; in the noble impulse given to the cause of 
Free Trade by the repeal of the tariff of 42 and the creation of the 
more equal, honest, and productive tariff of 1846, and that in our 
opinion it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of a political 
organization by which these great reforms have been achieved and 
risk them in the hands of their known adversaries, with whatever 
delusive appeals they may solicit our surrender of that vigilance which 
ig the only safe guard of liberty. " 

"Resolved. That the confidence of the Democracy of the Union, in 
the principles, capacity, firmness and integrity of James K. Polk, 
manifested by his nomination and election in 1844, has been signally 
justified by the strictness of his adherence to sound democratic doc- 
trines, by the purity of purpose by the energy and ability which have 
characterized his administration in all our affairs at home and abroad; 
that we tender to him our cordial congratulations upon the brilliant 
success which hashitherto crowned his patriotic efforts and reassure him 
in advance that at the expiration of his Presidential term he will carry 
with him to his retirement, the esteem, respect, and admiration of a 
grateful country." 

"Resolved. That this convention hereby present to the people of 
the United States, Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as the Candidate of the 
Democratic party for the office of President, and William 0. Butler, of 
Kentucky, for Yice-President of the United States." 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 211 

The Free Soil party 1848,— Buffalo platform. 

Whereas, we have assembled in convention, as a Union of freemen, 
for the sake of freedom, forgetting all past political differences in a 
common resolve to maintain the rights of free labor against the 
aggressions of the slave j)ower, and to secure free soil to a free peo- 
ple." 

'^And Whereas. The political conventions recently assembled at 
Baltimore and Philadelphia, the one stifling the voice of a great 
Constituency, entitled to be heard in its deliberations, and the other 
abandoning its distinctive i^riuciples for more availability, have dis- 
solved the National party organizations heretofore existing, by 
nominating for the Chief Magistracy of the United States, under the 
slaveholding dictation, candidates, neither of whom can be supported 
by the opponents of slavery extension without a sacrifice of consistency, 
duty, and self respect. 

"And Whereas. These nominations so made, furnish the occasion, 
and demonstrate the necessity of the Union of the people under the 
banner of Free Democracy, in a solemn and formal declaration of their 
independence of the slave power, and of their fixed determination to 
rescue the Federal Government from its control j 

"Resolved. Therefore, tliat we, the ]3eople here assembled, remem- 
bering the example of our fathers in the days of the first Declaration 
of Independence, putting our trust in God for the triumph of our cause 
and invoking his guidance in our endeavors to advance it, do now 
plaut ourselves upon the National Platform of Freedom, in opposition 
to the sectional platform of slavery." 

"Resolved. That slavery in the several States of this Union which 
recognize its existence, depends ui)on the state laws alone which 
cannot be rej)ealed or modified by the Federal Government, and for 
which laws, that Government is not responsible. We therefore propose 
no interference by Congi^ess with slavery within the limits of any 
State." 

"Resolved. Tliat the x)roviso of Jefferson ; to prohibit the existence 
of slavery after 1800, in all the Territories of the United States, 
southern and northern ; the votes of six states and sixteen delegates, 
in the Congress of 1784, for the i^roviso, to three States and seven 
delegates against it ; the actual exclusion of slavery from the north- 
western Territory, by the ordinance of 1787, unanimously adopted by 
the States in Congress ; and the entire history of that period, clearly 
shows that it was the settled policy of the nation not to extend, nation- 
alize or encourage, but to limit, localize, and discourage slavery ; and to 
this policy, which should never have been departed from, the Govern- 
ment ought to return." 

"Resolved. That our fathers ordained the Constitution of the 
United States, in order, among other great National objects, to establish- 
justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty ; 
but expressly denied to the Federal Government, which they created, 
all Constitutional power to deprive any j)erson of life, liberty, or 
property, without due legal process." 

"Resolved. That in the judgment of this convention. Congress has 
no more power to make a slave, than to make a king ; no more power 
to institute or establish slavery, than to institute or establish a 



212 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

monarchy ; no such power can bo found among those specifically confer- 
red by the Constitution or derived by just implications from them. 

'J Resolved. That it is the duty of the Federal Government to 
relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence or continuance of 
slavery wherever the Government jjossesses Constitutional authority 
to legislate on that subject, and it is thus responsible for its existence." 

^'Resolved. That the true, and in the judgment of this convention^ 
the only safe means of preventing the extension of slavery into Terri- 
tory now Free, is to prohibit its extension in all such Territory by an 
act of Congress. 

^'Resolved. That we accept the issue which the slave power has 
forced upon us ; and to their demand for more slave States, and more 
slave Territory, our calm but final answer is, no more slave States, 
and no more slave Territory. Let the soil of our extensive domains 
be kept free for the hardy Pioneers of our own land, and the oppressed 
and banished of other lands, seeking homes of comfort and fields of 
enterprise in the new world." 

'^ Resolved. That the bill lately reported by the Committee of eight 
in the Senate of the United States, was no com^iromise, but an absolute 
surrender of thft rights of the Non-Slaveholders of all tlie States; 
and while we rejoice to know that a measure which, while ox^ening the 
door for the introduction of slavery into the Territories now free, 
would also have opened the door to litigation and strife among the 
future inhabitants thereof, to the ruin of their jieace and prosperity, 
was defeated in the House of Representatives, its passage, in hot haste, 
by a Majority embraciug several Senators who voted in open violation 
of the known will of their constituents, should warn the i)eople to see 
to it, that their Representatives be not suffered to betray them. There 
must be no more Compromises with slavery ; if made they must be 
repealed." 

^'Resolved. That we demand freedom and established Institutions 
for our brethern in Oregon, now ex^^osed to hardships, peril and 
massacre by the reckless hostility of the slave power to the establish- 
ment of Free Government for Free Territories ; and not only for them, 
but for our new brethern in California and New-Mexico." 

"Resolved. It is due not only to this occasion, but to the whole 
people of the United States, that we should also declare ourselves on 
certain other questions of National Policy : therefore." 

" Resolved. That we demand cheap postage for the people ; a 
retrenchment of the expenses and patronage of the Federal Govern- 
ment ; abolition of all unnecessary offices and salaries ; and the election 
by the people of all civil officers in the service of the Government, so 
far as the same may be practicable." 

"Resolved. That River and Harbor improvements, when demanded 
by the safety and convenience of commerce, with foreign nations, or 
among the several States are objects of National Concern, and that it 
is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its Constitutional powers, 
to provide therefor." 

"Resolved. That the free grant to actual settlers, in consideration 
of the expenses they incur in making settlements in the vdlderness, 
which are usually fully equal to their actual cost, and of the public 
benefits resulting therefrom, of reasonable portions of the public lands 
under suitable limitations, is a wise and just measure of public policy, 
^hich will promote in various ways the interests of all the States of 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 213 

this Union, and we therefore recommend it to the favorable considera- 
tion of the American people." 

^^ Resolved. That the obligations of honor and patriotism require 
the earliest practicable payment of the national debt, and Tve are 
therefore in favor of such tariif or duties as will raise revenue adequate 
to defray the necessary expenses of the Federal Government, and to 
pay annual installments of our debt, and the interests thereon." 

^^ Resolved. That we inscribe on our banner ^'Free Soil, Free 
Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men, " and under it we will fight on and 
fight ever^ until a triumphant victory, shall reward our exertions. 



The Whig National convention 1852, — Whig platform. 

^^ The Whigs of the United States, in convention assembled, adhering 
to the great conservative principles by which they are controlled and 
governed, and now as ever relying upon the intelligence of the Amer- 
ican people, with an abiding confidence in their capacity for self-gov- 
ernment, and their devotion to the constitution and the Union, do pro- 
claim the following as the political sentiments and determination for 
the establishment and maintenance of which their National organization 
as a party was effected. " 

"First. The government of the United States is of a limited 
character, and it is confined to the exercises of powers expressly 
granted by the constitution, and such as may be necessary and proper , 
for carrying the gi-anted powers into full execution, and that powers 
not granted or necessarily implied are reserved to the States respect- 
ively and to the people." 

'^ Second. That the State governments should be held secure to their 
reserved rights, and the General Government sustained on its constitu- 
tional powers and that the Unio)i should be revered and watched over 
as the palladium of our liberties. 

'* Third. That while struggling Freedom every where enlists the 
warmest sympathy of the Whig party, we still adhere to the doctrines 
of the Father of his Country as announced in his Farewell Address, of 
keeping ourselves free from ad entangling alliances with 4'oreign 
countries and of never quitting our own to stand upon foreign ground j 
that our mission as a republic is not to propagate our opinions, or impose 
on other countries our form of government, by artifice or force ; but to 
teach by example, and show, by our success, moderation, and jus- 
tice, the blessings of Self-government, and the advantage of Free In- 
stitutions. " 

" Fourth. Tliat as the people make and control the goA^ernment, 
they should obey its constitution, laws, and treaties as they would re- 
tain their self-respect, and the respect which they claim and will en- 
force from foreign powers." 

" Fifth. Government should be conducted on principles of the 
strictest economy ; and revenue suflicient for the expense thereof, in 
time, ought to be derived mainly from a duty on imports, and not from 
direct taxes; and on laying such duties sound policy requires a just 
discrimination, and, when practicable, by specific duties, whereby 
suitable encouragement may be afforded to American industry, equally 
to all classes and to all portions of the country ) and economical ad- 



214 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

ministration of the government, in time of peace, ought to be derived 
from duties on imports, and not from direct taxation; and in laying 
such duties, sound policy requires ajust discrimination, whereby suita- 
ble encouragement may be alforded to American industry, eaually to 
all classes and to all parts of the country. 

"Sixth. The constitution vests in Congress the j)Ower to open and 
repair harbors, and remove obstructions from navigable rivers, wlien- 
ever such improvements are necessary for the common defence, and for 
the protection and facility of Commerce with foreign Nations, or among 
the States — said improvements being in every instance National and 
G-eneral in their character. 

" Seventh. The Federal and State Governments are parts of one sys- 
tem, alike necessary for the common prosperity, peace and security, and 
ought to be regarded alike witli a cordial, habitual and immovable at- 
tachment. Eesi)ect for the authority of each, and acquiescence in the 
just constitutional measures of each, are duties required, by the 
plainest considerations of national, state, and individual welfare. 

" Eighth. That the series of acts of the 32d Congress, the act 
known as the Fugitive Slave law iu eluded are received and acquiesced 
in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement in principles 
and substance of the dangerous and exciting questions which they 
embrace ; and, so far as they are concerned, we will maintain them, 
and insist upon their strict enforcement, until time and experience shall 
demonstrate the necessity of farther Legislation to guard against the 
evasion of the laws on the one hand and the abuse of their powers on 
the other — not impairing their present efficiency ; and we deprecate all 
further agitation of the question thn ^ '^ttled as dangerous to our peace, 
and will discountenance efforts, to continue or renew such agitation, 
whenever, wherever, or liowever the attempt may be made ; and we 
will maintain this system as essential to the nationality of the Whig 
party, and the integrity of the Union. 



The Democratic platform — 1852. 

"Resolved. That it is the duty of every branch of the government 
to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our pub- 
lic affairs, and tliat no more revenue ought to be raised than is required 
to defray the necessary expenses of the Government, and for the 
gradual but certain extinction of the public debt. " 

"Resolved. That Congress has no power to charter a National 
Bank ; that we believe such an Institution one of deadly hostility to 
the best interests of the country; dangerous to our republican Insti- 
tutions and the liberties of the i)eople, and calculated to place the busi- 
ness of the country within the control of a concentrated money power, 
and that above the laws and will of the people ; and that the results of 
Democratic legislation, in this and all other financial measures, upon 
which issues have been made between the two political parties of the 
country have demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties, 
their soundness, safety, and utility in all business pursuits." 

" Resolved. That the separation of the moneys of the Government 
from Banking Institutions, is indispensable for tlie safety of the funds 
of the Government, and the rights of the people." 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES 215 

" Resolved. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in 
the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, 
which makes ours the land of liberty, and the asylum of the oppressed of 
every nation have ever been cardinal i)rinciples in the Democratic faith 
and every attempt to abridge their privilege of becoming citizens and 
the owners of the soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same 
spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition laws from our statute book. 

'■'' Resolved. That Congress has no power under the constitution to 
interfere with, or control the domestic institutions of the several states, 
and that such states are the sole and proper judges of everything ap- 
pertaining to their own affairs, and not prohibited by the constitution; 
that all the efforts of the Abolitionists or others, made to induce Con- 
gress to interfere with questions of slavery or take incipient steps in re- 
lation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and danger- 
ous consequences; and that all such efforts ha^e an inevitable tendency 
to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and 
permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any 
friend of our political institutions. " 

^^ Resolved. That the foregoing proposition covers , and is intended to 
embiacethe whole subject of the Slavery agitation in Congress; and 
therefore, the Democratic party of the Union standing on its national 
platform, will abide by, and adhere to, a faithful execution of the acts 
known as the Compromise Measures settled by the last Congress — the 
act for the reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included ; which 
act being designed to carry out an expressed provision of tlie constitu- 
tion cannot with fidelity thereto be repealed, nor so changed as to 
destroy or impair its efficiency. " 

'^ Resolved. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at 
renewing in Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the Slavery question^ 
under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made." 

^^ Resolved. That the Democratic party will faithfully abide by and 
uphold the princii)les laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions 
of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Leg- 
islature in 1799; that it adopts those principles as constituting one of 
the main foundations of its political creed and is resolved to carry them 
out in their obvious meaning and import. " 

'^Resolved. That the war with Mexico * * * * and earnestly 
desire for her all the blessings and prosperity which we enjoy under 
Republican Institutions, and we congratulate the American people on 
the results of that war which have so manifestly justified the policy 
and conduct of the Democratic party, and insured to the United States 
indemnity for the past, and security for the future. " 

''Resolved. That in view of the condition of popular institutions in 
the old world, a high and sacred duty is devolved with increased res- 
ponsibility upon the Democracy of this country, as the j) arty of the 
people, to uphold and maintain the rights of every state, and thereby 
the union of the states, and sustain and advance among them constitu- 
tional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legis- 
lation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a 
vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and compromises 
)f the constitution, which are broad enough and strong enough to em- 
)race and uphold the Union as it is, and the Union as it should be ,in the 
ull expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progress- 
jLfe people." 



216 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

The Free Soil platform, 1852. 

'^Having assembled in National Convention as the Democracy of the 
United States, united by a common resolve to maintain right against 
wrong, and Freedom against Slavery -, confiding in the intelligence, pa- 
triotism, and discriminating justice of the American people, ];)iitting 
our trust in God for the triumph of our cause, and invoking his guidance 
in our endeavors to advance it, we now submit to the candid judgment 
of all men the following declaration of principles and measures: 

" 1 St. That governments deriving their just powers from the consent 
of the governed, are instituted among men to secure to all those 
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with 
which they are endowed hj their creator, and of which none can be 
deprived hj valid legislation, excex^t for crime. " 

''2. That the true mission of American Democracy is to maintain 
the Liberties of the people, tlie Sovereignty of the States and the perpe- 
tuity of the Union, by the impartial application to public affairs, with- 
out Sectional discriminations of the fundamental principles of human 
rights, strict justice and an ecomonical administration." 

'^3. That the Federal Government is one of limited powers, derived 
solely from the constitution, and the grants of power therein ought to 
be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the govern- 
ment, and it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitu- 
ional povrers." 

^'4. That the constitution of the United States, ordained to form a 
more perfect Union, to establish justice and secure the blessings of Lib- 
erty, expressly denies to the General Government all power to deprive 
any person of life, liberty or property without due j)iocess of law j 
and therefore, the Government having no more power to establish- 
slavery than to establish a monarchy should at once proceed to relieve 
itself from all responsibility for the existence of slavery, wherever it pos- 
sesses constitutional power to legislate for its extinction." 

"5. That, to the persevering, and imijortunate demands of the slave 
power for more Slave States, new Slave Territories and the naturaliza- 
tion of Slavery, our distinct and final answer is — no more Slave States, 
no Slave Territory, no nationalized Slavery, and no national Legisla- 
tion for the extradition of Slaves." 

" 6. That Slavery is a sin against God, and a crime against man, 
which no human enactment nor usage can make right, and that Chris- 
tianity, Humanity, and Patriotism alike demand its abolition." 

^' 7. That the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is repugnant to the con- 
stitution, to the principles of the common law, to the spirit of Chris- 
tianity and to the sentiments of the civilized world. We therefore 
deny, its binding force upon the American people, and demand its 
immediate and total repeal. " 

^^8. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality, and not 
subject to modification or repeal, is not in accordance with the creed of 
the founders of our Government, and is dangerous to the liberties of 
the people." 

^^9. That the Acts of congress, known as the compromise measures 
of 1850, by making the admission of a sovereign State contingent upon 
the adoption of other measures demanded by the special interest of 
Slavery ; by their omission to guarantee freedom in the free Territories ; 
by their attempt to impose Unconstitutional limitations on the power 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 217 

of Congress and tlie people — to admit new States ; by their provisions 
for the assumption of Five Millions of the State debt of Texas, and for 
the payment of Five Millions more, and the concession of a large Ter- 
ritory to the same State under menace, as an inducement to the relin- 
quishment of a groundless claina, and by their invasion of the Sovereign- 
ty of the States and the liberties of the people through the enactment of 
an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional Fugitive Slave Law, are 
proved to be inconsistent with all the principles and maxims of Dem- 
ocracy, and wholly inadequate to the settlement of the questions of 
which they are claimed to be an adjustment." 

^^0. That no permanent settlement of the Slavery question can be 
looked for except in the x)ractical recognition of the truth that Slavery 
is sectional and Freedom national ; by the total separation of the Gen- 
eral Government from Slavery, and the exercise of its legitimate — and 
constitutional influences on the side of Freedom ; and by leaving to 
the States the whole subject of Slavery and the extradition of fugitives 
from service." 

^'11. That all men have a natural right to a portion of the soil j and 
that as the use of the soil is indispensable to life, the right of all men 
to the soil is as sacred as their right to life itself." 

'^12. That the Public Lands of tlie United States belong to the 
People, and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to corpora- 
tions, but should be granted in limited quantities, free of costs, to 
landless settlers." 

^43. That a due regard for the Federal constitutions, a sound ad- 
ministrative policy, demand that the funds of the General Govern- 
ment be kept separate from Banking institutions } that inland and 
ocean postage should be reduced to the lowest j)ossible x>oint; that no 
more revenue should be raised than is required to defray the necessary 
expenses of the public service, and to pay off the public Debt; andthat 
the power and patronage of the Government should be diminished, by 
the abolition of all the unnecessary offices, salaries, and j)rivileges, and 
by the election, by the people, of all civil officers in the service of the 
United States, so far as may be consistent with the promj)t and effi- 
cient transaction of the public business." 

'^14. That Eiver and Harbor improvements, when necessary to the 
safety and convenience of commerce with foreign nations, or among 
the several States, are objects of national concern; and it is the duty 
of congress, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to Bro^^defo'' 
the same." 

^^15. That emigrants and exiles from the old world should find 
a cordial welcome to homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the 
new; and every attempt to abridge their privilege of becoming cit- 
izens and owners of the soil among us, ought to be resisted with in- 
flexible determination." 

"16. That every nation has a clear right to alter or change its own 

government and to administer its own concerns in such manner as may 

best secure the rights and promote the happiness of the i)eople; and 

* foreign interference with that right is a dangerous violation of the law 

I of nations, against which all independent governments should protest, 

I and endeavor by all proper means to x)revent ; and especialy is it the 

! duty of the American government, representing the Chief Republic of 

^ the world, to protest against, and by all proper means to prevent the 

intervention of kings and emperors against Nations seeking to estab- 



218 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

lish for themselves Kepublican or constitutional Grovernment." 

'^17. That the Independence of Hayti ought to be recognized by 
our Government, and our commercial relations with it placed on the 
footing of the most favored nations." 

^^18. That as by the Constitution "the citizens of each State shall be 
entitled to all the priveleges and immunities of citizens in the several 
States, " the practice of imprisoning colored seamen of other States, 
while the vessels to which they belong lie in port, and refusing the 
exercise of the right to bring such cases before the Supreme Court of 
the United States, to test the legality of such proceedings, is a flagrant 
violation of the Constitution, and an invasion of the rights of citizens 
of other States, utterly inconsistent with the professions made by the 
slaveholders, that they wish the provisions of the Constitution, faith- 
fully observed by every State in the Union. 

'^ 19. That we recommend the introduction into all treaties hereafter 
to be negotiated between the United States and Foreign Nations, of 
some provision for the amicable settlement of difficulties by a resort to 
decisive arbitrations. 

^'20. That the Free Democratic Party is not organized to aid either 
the Whig or Democratic Wing of the great Slave Compromise Party 
of the Nation, but to defeat them both ; and that repudiating and renounc- 
ing both, as hopelessly corrupt and utterly unworthy of confidence, the 
purpose of the Free Democracy is to take i)os3ession of the Federal 
Government, and administer it for the better protection of the rights 
and interests of the whole i)eople. 

^'21. That we inscribe on our banner. Free Soil, Free Speech Free- 
Labor and Free Men, and under it we will fight on and fight ever until 
a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions. 

'^22. That upon this Platform the Conv^ention presents to the Amer- 
ican people as a candidate for the office of President of the United 
States, John P. Hale of New Hampshire, and as a candidate for the 
office of Vice-President of the United States, George W. Julian, of 
Indiana, and earnestly commend them to the support of all Freemen 
and all parties." 



The Kepublican Platform— 1856. 

^^This Convention of Delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call 
addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past 
political diiferences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise, to the policy of the present Administration, to 
the extension of Slavery into Free Territory ; in favor of admitting 
Kansas as a Free State, of restoring the action of the Federal Govern- 
ment to the principles of Washington and Jefferson, and who purpose 
to unite in presenting candidates for the offices of President and Vice- 
President do resolve as follows j 

'''Resolved. That the miiutenance of the principles promulgated 
in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Con- 
stitution, is essential to ths^jreservation of our Republican institutions, 
and that the Federal Constitution, the right of the States, and the 
Union of tlie States, shall be preserved." 

" Resolved. That with our Republican fathers we hold it to be a self- 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 219 

evident truth, that all men are endowed with the inalienable right to life, 
liberty, and the i:)ursuit of happiness, and that the primary object and 
ulterior designs of our Federal G-overnment were, to secure these rights 
to all persons within its exclusive .I'urisdiction; that as our Republican 
fathers, when they had abolished Slavery in all our National Territory 
ordained that no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, it becomss our duty to maintain this pro- 
vision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it for the pur- 
pose of establishing Slavery in any territory of the United States by 
positive legislation prohibiting its existence or extension therein. That 
we deny the authority of Congress, or a territorial legislature, of any 
individual, or association of individuals, to give legal existence to Slav- 
ery in any territory of the United States, while the present Constitu- 
tion shall be maintained." 

^'Resolved. That the Constitution confers upon Congress, sovereign 
power over the territories of the United States for their government, 
and that in the exercise of this power it is both the right and the duty 
of Congress to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism 
— Polygamy and Slavery. 

^' Resolved. That while the Constitution of the United States wa^ 
ordained and established by the people in order to form a more perfect 
Union, establisli justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the 
common defense, and secure the blessings of liberty, and contains ample 
provisions for the protection of the life, liberty and property of every 
citizen, the dearest constitutional rights of the people of Kansas have 
been fraudulently and violently taken from them — their territory has 
been invaded by an armed force^spurious and pretended legislative, 
judicial and executive officers have been set over them, by whose usur- 
ped authority, sustained by the military power of the government, 
tyrannical and unconstitutional laws have been enacted and enforced 
— the rights of the people to keep and bear arms have been infringed 
— test oaths of an extraordinary and entangling nature have been impos- 
ed, as a condition of exercising the right of suffrage and holding office — • 
the riglit of an accused person to a speedy and public trial by as 
impartial jury has been denied — the right of the people to be secure in 
their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches 
and seizures has been violated — they have been deprived of life, liberty 
and property without due process of law — that the freedom of speech and 
of the press has been abridged— the right to choose their representa- 
tives been made of no effect — murders, robberies and arsons have been 
instigated and encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go 
unpunished — ^that all these things have been done with the knowledge, 
sanction and procurement of the present Administration, and that for 
this high crime against the Oonstitution, the Union, and Humanity, we 
arraign the Administration, the President, his advisers, agents, sup- 
porters, apologies and accessories either before or after the facts, iDefore 
the country, and before the world, and that it is our fixed purpose to 
bring the actual i^erpetrators of these atrocious outrages, and their 
accomplices, to a sure and condign punishment hereafter. 

"Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a 
State of the Union, with her present Free Constitution, as at once th. 
most effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of the 



220 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 



rights and privileges to which they are entitled; and of ending the 
civil strife now raging in her territory. 

^'Resolved. That the highwayman's plea that "might makes right" 
embodied in the Ostend circular, was in every respect unworthy of 
American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor upon any 
government or people that gave it their sanction. 

"Resolved. That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, by the most cen- 
tral and practicable route, is imperatively demanded by the interest 
of the whole Country, and that the Federal Government ought to ren- 
der immediate and efficient aid in its construction and, as an auxiliary 
thereto the immediate construction of an emigrant route on the line of 
the railroad. 

"Resolved. That appropriations by Congress for the improvement 
of rivers and harbors, of a national character, required for the accom- 
modation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by the 
Constitution, and justified by the obligation of government to protect 
the lives and property of its citizens." 



The American Platform — 1856. 

"1. An humble acknowledgment to the Supreme Being, for his pro- 
tecting care vouchsafed to our fathers in their successful Revolutionary 
struggle, and hitherto manifested to us, their descendents, in the pre- 
servation of the liberties, the independence, and the Union of these 
States. 

"2. The perpetuation of the Federal Union and Constitution, as the 
palladium of our civil and religious liberties, and the only sure bul- 
warks of American Independence. 

" 3. Americans must rule America ; and to this end native-horn citizens 
should be selected for ail State, Federal, and Municipal offices of gov- 
ernment employment, in preference to all others. Nevertheless, 

" 4. Persons born of American j)arents residing temporarily abroad, 
should be entitled to all the rights of native-horn citizens. 

" 5. No person should be selected for political station (whether of 
native or foreign birth), who recognizes any allegiance or obligation of 
any description to any foreign prince, potentate or power, or who re- 
fuses to recognize the Federal and State Constitutions (each within its 
sphere) as paramount to all other laws as rules of political action. 

"6. The unqualified recognition and maintenance of the reserved 
rights of the several* States, and the cultivation of harmony and frater- 
nal good will, between the citizens of the several States, and to this end 
non-interference by Congress with questions appertaining solely to 
the individual States, and non-intervention by each State with the 
affairs of any other State. 

"7. The recognition of the right of native-born and naturalized 
citizens of the United States, permanently residing in any territory 
thereof, to frame their Constitution and laws, and to regulate their 
domestic and social affairs in their own mode, subject only to tlie pro- 
visions of the Federal Constitution, with the privilege of admission in- 
to the Union, whenever they have the requisite population for one 
representative in Congress ; Provided, always, that none but those who 
are citizens of the United States, under the Constitution and laws there- 
of; and who have a fixed residence in any such Territory, ought to 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 221 

participate in the formation of the Constitution^ or in the enactment of 
laws for the said Territory or State. 

''8. An enforcement of the principles that no State or Territory ought 
to admit others than citizens to the right of suffrage, or of holding 
political offices of the United States. 

'^9. A change in the laws of naturalization, making a continued 
residence of twenty-one years, of all not heretofore i)rovided for, are 
indespensable requisites for citizenship hereafter, and excluding all 
paupers, and persons convicted of crime, from landing uj)on out shores 
bu:^ no interference with the vested rights of foreigners. 

^^10. Opposition to any Union betAveen Church and State ^ no inter- 
ference with religious faith or worship, and no test oaths for office. 

^^11. Free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged abuses 
of public functionaries, and a strict economy in public expenditures. 

'^12. The maintenance and enforcement of all laws constitutionally 
enacted until said laws shall be repealed, or shall be declared null and 
void by competent^ udicial authority. 

^'13. Opposition to the reckless and unwise policy of the present 
Administration in the general managemenbof our national affairs, and 
more especially as shown in removing ^^ Americans," (by designation) 
and conservatives in principle, from office, and placing foreigners and 
ultraists in their places, as shown in a truckling subserviency to the 
stronger, and an insolent and cowardly bravado toward the weaker 
powers ; as shown in reopening sectional agitation, by the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise ; as shown in granting to unnaturalized foreigners 
the right of suffrage in Kansas and Nebraska 5 as shown in its vacilla- 
ting course on the Kansas and Nebraska question ; as shown in the 
eorruption which pervades in some of the departments of the Govern- 
ment ; as shown in disgracing meritorious naval officers through 
prejudice or caprice j and as shown in the blundering mismanagment 
of our foreign relations. 

"14. Therefore, to render existing evils, and prevent the disastrous 
consequences otherwise resulting therefrom, we would build up the 
"American Party" upon the principles therein before stated. 

"15. That each State Council shall have authority to amend their 
respective Constitutions, so as to abolish the several degrees, and substi- 
tute a pledge of honor, instead of other obligations for fellowship and 
admission into the party. 

"16. A free and open discussion of all political principles embraced 
in our platform. 



The Democratic National Platform — 1856. 

"Resolved. That the American Democracy place their trust in the 
intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the Amer- 
ican people, 

"Resolved. That we regara this as a destinctive feature of our 
political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world as a 
great moral element in a form of government springing from and upheld 
by the popular will, and we contrast it with the creed and practice of 
Federalism, under whatever name or form, which seeks to palsy the 
will of the constituent, and which conceives no imposture too mon- 
strous for the popular credulity. 



222 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

"Kesolved. Therefore, that entertaining these views, the Democratic 
party of this Union, through their delegates assemtiled in general 
convention, coming together in a spirit of concord, of devotion to the 
doctrines and faith of a free representative government, and appealing 
to their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of their intentions, renew and 
re-assert before the American people, the declarations of principles 
avowed by them, when, on former occasions, in general conventions 
they have presented their candidates for the popular suffrage. 

1. That the Federal Government is one of limited power derived 
solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power made therein 
ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the 
government, and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise 
doubtful constitutional powers. 

2. That the Constitution does not confer upon the general govern- 
ment the power to commence and carry on a general system of 
internal improvements. 

3. That the Constitution does not confer authority upon the 
Federal Government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts of the 
several States, contracted for local and internal improvements, or other 
State purposes, nor would such assumption be just or expedient. 

4. That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Government to 
foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, or to cherish 
the interests of one i)ortion of our common country ; that every citizen 
and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon 
an equality of rights and priveleges, and a complete and ample protec- 
tion of persons and proj)erty from domestic violence and foreign 
aggression. 

5. That it is the duty of every branch of the government to enforce 
and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, 
and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray 
the necessary expenses of the Government, and gradual but certain 
extinction of the public debt. 

6. That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly applied 
to the National objects specified in the Constitution, and that we are 
opposed to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the 
States, as alike inexpedient in policy, and repugnant to the Constitu- 
tion. 

7. That Congress has no power to charter a National Bank, that we 
believe such an institution of deadly hostility to the best interest of 
this country, dangerous to our Republican institutions and the liberties 
of the people, and calculated to i3lace the business of the country with 
in the control of a concentrated money power and above the laws 
and will of the people, and the results of the Democratic legislation in 
this and all financial measures upon which issues have been made 
between the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to 
candid and practical men of all parties, their soundness, safety and 
utility in all business pursuits. 

8. That the separation of the money of the Government from bank- 
ing institutions is indispensable to the safety of the funds of the 
Government and the rights of the people. 

9. That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President the 
qualified veto power by which he is enabled, under restrictions and 
responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public interests, to sus- 
pend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot secure the approval of 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 223 

two-fhirds of tlie Senate and House of Eepresentatives, until the 
judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has saved 
the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical dominion of the 
Bank of the United States, and from the corrupting system of general 
internal improvements. 

10. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declar- 
ation of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes 
ours the land of Liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every na- 
tion, have ever been cardinal j)rinciples in the Democratic faith ; and 
every attempt to abridge the privilege of becoming citizens and the 
owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with the same spirit which 
swept the alien and sedition laws from our ''Statute books." And where- 
as, since the foregoing declaration was uniformly adopted by our prede- 
cessors in National Convention, an adverse political and religious test 
has been secretly organized by a party claiming to be exclusively Amer- 
ican, and it is proper that the American Democracy should clearly define 
its relations thereto; and declare its determined opposition to all secret 
political societies, by whatever name they may be called. 

''Resolved. That the foundation of this Union of States having been 
laid in, and its prosperity, expansion, and pre-eminent example of a 
free government, built upon entire freedom in matters of religious 
concernment, and no respect of .persons in regard to rank, or place of 
birth, no party can justly be deemed national, constitutional or in 
accordance with American principles, which bases its exclusive organ- 
ization upon religious ox)inions and accidental birth-place. And hence 
a political crusade in the nineteenth century, and in the United States 
of America, against Catholics and foreign-born is neither justified by 
the past history nor future prospects of the country, nor in unison 
with the spirit of toleration, and enlightened freedom which peculiarly 
distinguished the American system of popular government. 

^'Resolved. That we reiterate with renewed energy of purpose the 
well considered declarations of former conventions upon the sectional 
issues of domestic Slavery, and concerning the reserved rights of the 
States." 

1. That congress has no power under the constitution to interfere 
with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and 
that all such States are the sole and proper judges of everything ap- 
pertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the constitution ; that 
all efforts of the Abolitionists or others made to induce congress to in- 
terfere with the questions of Slavery, or to take inefficient steps in 
relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dan- 
gerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable ten- 
dency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the 
stability and permancy of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced 
by any friend of our political institutions. . 

2. That the foregoing proposition covers and was intended to em- 
brace the whole subject of Slavery agitation in congress, and therefore 
the Democratic party of the Union, standing on its national platform, 
will abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as 
the Compromise measures settled by the congress of 1850 : "the act for 
reclaiming fugitives Irom service or labor included; which act, being 
designed to carry out an express provision of the constitution, cannot, 
with fidelity thereto be repealed; or so changed as to destroy or impare 
its efficiency." 



224 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

3. That the Democratic Party will resist all attempts at renew- 
ing in congress or out of it, the agitation of the Slavery question, 
under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made." 

4. That the Democratic Party will faithfully abide by and uphold 
the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 
1797 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Leg- 
islature in 1799 — that it adopts these principles as constituting one of 
the main foundations of its political creed, and is resolved to carry 
them out in their obvious meaning and import. And that we may 
more distinctly meet the issue on which a sectional party, subsisting ex- 
clusively on slavery agitation, now relies to test the fidelity of the 
people. North and South, to the constitution and the Union — 

1. Kesolved. That claiming fellow-ship with, and desiring Co-oper- 
ation of all who regard the iDreservation of the Union under the Consti- 
tution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sectional parties 
and platforms concerning domestic slavery, which seek to embroil the 
States and incite to treason and armed resistance to law in the Terri- 
tories and, whose avowed purpose, if consummated, must end in civil war 
anddisunion, the American Democracy recognize and adopt the princi- 
ples contained in the organic laws establishing the Territories of Ne- 
braska and Kansas embodying the only sound and safe solution of the 
slavery question, upon which the great national idea of the people of 
this whole Country can repose in its determined conservation of the 
Union, and non-interferences of Congress with slavery in the Territo- 
ries or in the District of Columbia. 

2. That this was the basis of the compromises of 1850, confirmed 
by both the Democratic and Whig parties in National convention, rati- 
fied by the people in the election of 1852, and rightly applied to the or- 
ganization of the Territories in 1 854. 

3. That by tlie uniform application of the Democratic principle to 
the organization of Territories, and the admission of New States with 
or without domestic Slavery, as they may elect, the equal rights of all 
the States will be preserved intact, the original compacts of the consti- 
tution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expansion of the 
union insured to its utmost capacity of embracing in peace and har- 
mony, every future American State that may be constituted or annexed 
witli a republican form of Government. 

Resolved. That we recognize the right of the people of all the 
Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the legally 
and fairly expressed will of the majority of the actual residents, and 
whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a con- 
stitution with or without domestic Slavery, and be admitted into the 
union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States. 

Eesolved, finally. That in view of the condition of popular institu- 
tions in the old world (and the dangerous tendencies of sectional agita- 
tion, combined with the attempt to enforce civil and religious disabilit- 
ies against the rights of acquiring and enjoying citizenship in our own 
land)' a high and sacred duty is involved with increased responsibility 
upon the Democratic Partj^ of this country, as the party of the union ^ 
to uphold and maintain the rights of every State and thereby the union 
of the States — and to sustain and advance among us constitutional 
liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation 
for the benefit of the few at the exjjense of the many, and by a vigilant 
and constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 225 

constitution — wliicli are broad enougli and strong enough to embrace, 
and uphold the union as it was, the union as it is, and the union as it 
shall be — in the full expression of the energies and capacity of this 
great and progressive people. 

1. Eesolved. That there are questions connected with the fo reign 
policy of this country which are inferior to no domestic question what- 
ever. The time has come for the people of the United States to de- 
clare themselves in favor of free seas, and progressive free trade 
throughout the world, and, by solemn manifestations, to place their 
moral influences at the side of their sucessful example. 

2. Eesolved. That our geograj)hical and political position with ref- 
erence to the other states of this continent, no less than the interest 
of our commerce and the development of our growing power, requires 
that we should hold sacred the principles involved in the Monroe doc- 
trine. Their bearing and import admit of no misconstruction, and 
should be applied with unbending rigidity. 

3. Eesolved. That the great highway which nature, as well as the 
assent of States most immediately interested in its maintenance has 
marked out for free communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific 
Oceans, constitutes one ofthe most important achievements realized by 
the spirit of modern times, in the unconquerable energy of our people, 
and the result would be secured by a timely and efficient exertion of 
the control which we have the right to claim over it, and no power on 
earth should be suffered to impede or clog its progress by any interfer- 
ence with relations that it may suit our policy to establish between our 
Government and the Government of the States within whose domin- 
ions it lies; we can under no circumstances surrender our preponder- 
ance in the adjustment of all questions arising out of it. 

4. Eesolved. That in view of so commanding an interest, the peo- 
ple of the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts 
which are being made by the people of Central America to regenerate 
that portion of the continent which covers the i)assage across the in- 
teroceanic isthmus. 

5. Eesolved. That the Democratic Party will expect of the next 
Administration that every proper effort be made to insure our ascend- 
ency in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain permanent protection to 
the great outlets through which are emptied into its waters the pro- 
ducts raised out ofthe soil and the commodities created by the industry 
of the people of our western valleys, and of the union at large. 

Eesolved. That the administration of Franklin Pierce has been 
true to Democratic principles^ and therefore true to the great interests 
of the country; in the face of violent opposition, he has maintained 
the laws at home, and vindicates the rights of American Citizens abroad 
and therefore we proclaim our unqualified admiration of his measures, 
and policy." 



Whig Platform,— 1856. 

' 'Eesolved. That the Whigs of the United States, now here assem- 
bled, hereby declare their reverence for the constitution of the United 
States, their unalterable attachment to the National Union, and a fixed 
determination to do all in their power to preserve them for themselves 
and their posterity. They have no new principles to announce j no 



226 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

new platform to establish ; but are content to broadly rest — where 
their fathers rested — upon the constitution of the United States, wish- 
ing no safer guide, no higher law. 

Eesolved. That we regard with the deepest interest and anxiety the 
present disordered condition of our National affairs — a portion of the 
country ravaged by civil war, large sections of our population embit- 
tered by mutual recriminations ; and we distinctly trace these calamities 
to 'the culpable neglect of duty by the present national administratiouo 

Eesolved. That the Grovernment of the United States was formed by 
the conjunction in political unity of wide spread geographical Sections 
materially differing not only in climate and i)roducts, but, in social and 
domestic institutions ; and that any cause that shall i^ermanently array 
the different Sections of the Union in political hostility and organized 
parties founded only on geographical distinctions, must inevitably prove 
fatal to a continuance of the National Union. 

Eesolved. That the Whigs of the United States declare, as a funda- 
mental article of political faith, an absolute neccessity for avoiding 
geographical parties. The danger so clearly discerned by the Father of 
his Country, has now become fearfully apparent in the agitation now 
convulsing the Nation, and must be arrested at once if we woUi.d pre- 
serve our constitution and our Union from dismemberment, and the 
name of America from being blotted out from the family of civilized 
nations. 

Eesolved. That all who revere the constitution and the Union must 
look with alarm at the j)arties in the field in the present Presidential 
Campaign — one claiming only to represent sixteen Northern States , 
and the other ai)pealing mainly to the passions and prejudices of the 
Southern States -, that the success of either faction must addfael to the 
flame which now threatens to warp our dearest interests in a common 
ruin. 

Eesolved. That the only remedy for an evil so appalling, is to sup- 
port a candidate pledged to neither of the geographical sections now 
arrayed in political antagonism, but holding both in a just and equal 
regard. We congratulate the friends of the Union that such a candidate 
exists in Millard Fillmore. 

Eesolved. That without adopting or referring to the peculiar doc- 
trine of the party which has already selected Mr. Fillmore as a candi- 
date we look to him as a well-tried and faithful friend of the constitu- 
tion and the Union,emiment alike for his wisdom and firmness,for his jus- 
tice and moderation in our foreign relations — for his calm and pacific 
temi3erament, so well becoming the head of a great Nation — for his devo- 
tion to the constitution in its true spirit— his inflexibility in executing 
the laws ; but, beyond all these attributes in possessing the one transcen- 
dent merit of being a repretasentive of neither of the two sectional par- 
ties now struggling for political supremacy. 

Eesolved. That in the present exigency of political affairs, we are 
not called upon to discuss the subordinate questions of administration 
in the exercising of the constitutional powers of the government. It is 
enough to know that Civ|l War was raging and that the Union was in 
peril j*and we proclaim the conviction that the restoration of Mr. Fill- 
more to the Presidency will furnish the best, if not the only means of 
restoring peace. " (Fillmore was also the candidate of the Know-noth 
ings.) 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 227 

Republican platform — 1860. (Chicago platform.) 

'' Resolved that we, the delegates, representatives of the Rei^ublican 
electors of the United States, in convention, assembled in discharge of 
the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, uaite in the 
following Declarations : 

1. That the history of the nation, during the last four years, has 
fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and 
perpetuation of the Republican party, and the causes which called it 
into existence are permanent in their nature, and now more than ever 
before demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph. 

2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the 
declaration of IndeiDendence and embodied in the Federal constitution 
''That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator 
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are 
instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of 
the governed," is essential to the preservation of our Republican insti- 
tutions; and that the Federal constitution, the rights of the States, and 
the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved. 

3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unprece- 
dented increase in population, its surprising development of material 
resources; its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home and 
its honor abroad; and we behold in abhorence all schemes for Disunion, 
come from whatever source they may; and we congratulate the country 
that no Republican member of congress has uttered or co untenanced 
the threats of Disunion so often made by democratic members without 
rebuke, and with applause from their political associates; and we de- 
nounce those threats of disunion in case of a popular overthrow of their 
ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a free government and 
as an avowal of contemplated treason which it is the imperative duty 
of an indignant i)eopl6 sternly to rebuke and forever silence. 

4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, 
especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic 
institjitions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to 
that balance of powers on which the perfection and endurance of our 
political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by 
armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under 
what pretext, as among the greatest of crimes. 

5. Resolved. That the present Democratic Administration has far 
exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to 
the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate 
exertions to force the infamous Lecompton constitution upon the 
protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relation between 
master and servant to involve an unqualified property in persons; in 
its attempted enforcement everywhere, on land and sea, through the 
intervention of congress and of the Federal courts of the extreme 
pretentions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvary- 
ing abuse of the power intrusted to it by a confiding people. 

6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance 
which pervades every department of the Federal Government; that a 
return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest 
the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans ; 
while the recent startling developments of frauds and corruptions at 



228 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

the Federal metropolis, show that an entire change of administration, 
is imperatively demanded- 

7. Tl}.at the new dogma that the constitution, of its own force 
carries Slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United States 
is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions 
of that instrument itself, with cotemporaneous exposition, and with 
legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency 
and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country. 

8. That the normal condition of all the the territory of the United 
States is that of freedom; that as our Republican Fathers, when they 
had abolished Slavery in all our national territory ordained that'^ no 
person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law," it became our duty, by legislation, whenever such leg- 
islation is necessary to maintain the provision of the constitution 
against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of congress, 
of a territorial legislature, orof any individuals, to give legal existence 
to Slavery in any Territory of the United States. 

9. That we brand the recent reopening of the African Slave-trade, 
under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of our judicial 
power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our 
country and age; and we call upon congress to take prompt and efftcient 
measures for the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic. 

10. That in the recent vetoes by their Federal Governors, of the 
acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting Slavery 
in those Territories , we find a practical illustration of the boasted 
Democratic principle of non-intervention and popular sovereignty em- 
bodied in the Kansas — ^Nebraska bill and a demonstration of the de- 
ception and frauds involved therein. 

11. Resolved, that Kansas, should, of right, be immediately ad- 
mitted a State under the constitution recently formed and adopted 
by her people, and accepted by the House of Representatives. 

12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the General 
Government by duties upon imposts, sound policy requires such 
an adjustmen't of these imposts as to encourage the development of the 
industrial interests of the whole country, and we commend that policy 
of national exchanges which secures to the working men liberal wages, 
to agriculture remanerating prices, to mechanics and manufacturers 
an adequate reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the 
nation commercial prosperity and independence. 

13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the 
Public Lands held by the actual settlers, and against any views of the 
Homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants 
for public bounty; and we demand the passage by congress of the 
complete and satisfactory Homestead measure which has already pass- 
ed the House. 

14. That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our 
Naturalization Laws or any State Legislation by which the riglits of 
citizenship hitherto accorded to emigrants from foreign lands shall be 
abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient protec- 
tion to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalize- 
ed, both at home and abroad. 

15. That appropriations by congress for River and Harbor improve- 
ments of a national character, required for the accommodation^ and se- 
curityof an existing commerce, are authorized by the constitution, and 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 229 

justified by the obligations of Government to protect the lives and p1?op- 
erty of its citizens. 

16. That a Railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively dem anded 
by the interest of the whole country that the Federal Grovernment ought 
to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and that as 
preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail should be promptly estab- 
lished. 

17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive i^rinciples and 
views we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however diifering on 
other questions, who substantially agree with us in their affirmance 
and support. 



The Constitutional Union convention — x860. Bell for President and 
Everett for vice President. 

Constitutional Union platform — 1860. 

Whereas, experience has demonstrated that platforms adopted by the 
partisan conventions of the country have had the eifect to mislead and 
deceive the people and at the same time to widen the political divisions 
of the country, by the creation and encouragement of geographical and 
sectional parties ; therefore, 

Eesolved. That it is both the part of patriotism and of duty to rec- 
ognize no political principles other than the constitution of the country 
the Union of the States and the enforcement of the laws and that, as repre- 
sentatives of the constitutional Union, men of the country in national 
convention assembled, we hereby pledge ourselves to maintain, protect 
and defend, separately and unitedly, these great principles of public 
liberty and national safety, against all enemies at home and abroad, 
believing that thereby peace may once more be restored to the country, 
the rights of the j)eople and of the States reestablished and the Gov- 
ernment again placed in that condition, of justice, fraternity and, 
equality, which, under the example and constitution of our fathers, 
has solemnly bound every citizen of the United States to maintain a 
more perfect Union, to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- 
vide for the common defense, i^romote the general welfare^ and secure 
the blessingSjOf liberty to ourselves and our i^osterity. 



The Democratic National Convention met at Charleston, S, C, April 
23, 1860. A rupture took x)lace betwaen the friends of Douglas and 
the extremists of the South — many of the Southern States withdrew 
from the convention, adjourned and met at Baltimore June 18, 1860, 
and nominated Douglas for President and Beni . Fitz-Patrick for Vice- 
President. Fitz-Patrick declined, and Herschel V. Johnson was nom- 
inated afterwards by the National Committee. 

The Southerners nominated John C, Breckinridge for President and 
Gen, Joseph Lane for Vice-President. 



CIVIL aOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 230 



DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM —I860. 

1. Besolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union, in Convention as- 
sembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions unanimously 
adopted and declared as a platform of principles by the Democratic 
Convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing that Democratic 
j)rincij)les are unchangeable in their nature, Avhen ai)plied to tlie same 
subject matters^ and we recommend as the only further resolutions 
the following : 

2. Besolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford ample 
and complete protection to all its citizens, whether at home or abroad, 
and whether native or foreign. 

3. Besolved, That one of tlie necessities of the age, in a military, com- 
mercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communication between 
the Atlantic and Pacific States ; and tlie Democratic Party pledge such 
Constitutional Government aid, as will insure the construction of a rail- 
road to the Pacific coast, at the earliest practicable i^eriod. 

4. Besolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition 
of the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves 
and just to S]3ain. 

5. Besolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the 
faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law, are hostile in character, 
subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect. 



BRECKINRIDGE PLATFORM,— 1860. 

Besolved, That the Platform adopted by the Democratic party at Cin- 
cinnati be affirmed, with the following explanatory Resolutions : 

First, That the Government of a Territory organized by an act of 
Congi'ess, is x)rovisional and temporary -, and during its existence, all 
citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their 
property in the Territory without their rights, either of person or pro- 
perty, being destroyed or impaired by Congressional or Territorial 
Legislation. 

Second, That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its de- 
partments, to protect when necessary the rights of persons and i^roper- 
ty in the Territories, and wherever else its Constitutional authority ex- 
tends. 

TJiird, That when the settlers in a Territory having an adequate 
population form a State Constitution in pursuance of law, the right of 
sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by admission into 
the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the peoj)le of other 
States ; and the State thus organized ought to be admitted into the 
Federal Union, whether its Constitution i^rohibits or recognizes the 
institution of Slavery. 

Fourth, That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition of 
I the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves 
and just to Sixain, at the earliest practicable moment. 

Fifth, That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faith- 
ful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law, are hostile in character, sub- 
versive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 231 

Sixth, That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as the 
imperative duty of this Government to protect the naturalized citizen 
in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same ex- 
tent as its native-born citizens. 

WJiereas, one of the gi-eatest necessities of the age, in a Political, Com- 
mercial, Postal and Military jDoint of view, is a speedy communica- 
tion between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Therefore, be it 

Besolved, That the Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to 
use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill to 
the extent of the Constitutional authority of Congress for the construc- 
tion of a Pacific Railroad from the Mississippi Eiver to the Pacific Ocean, 
at the earliest practicable moment. 



i^atio:n^al platfoems of ises. 



THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 

The Democratic Party, in National Convention assembled, reposing 
its trust in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of 
the people, standing upon the Constitution as the foundation and 
limitation of the powers of the Government, and the guarantee of the 
liberties of the citizen ; and recognizing the questions of slavery and 
secession as having been settled for all-time to come by the war or the 
voluntary action of the Southern States in Constitutional Convention 
assembled, and never to be renewed or reagitated, do with the return 
of peace demand -, 

First — Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in the 
Union under the Constitution, and of civil government to the Ameri- 
can people. 

Second — Amnesty for all past political offences, and the regulation of 
the elective franchise in the States by their citizens 

Third — Payment of the r)ublic debt of the United States as rapidly 
as practicable ; all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, except 
so much as is requisite for the necessities of tJie Government, econom- 
ically administered, being honestly applied to such payment ; and where 
the obligations of the Government, do not expressly state upon their 
face, or the law under which they were issued does not provide, that 
they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in justice, to be 
paid in the lawful money of the United States. 

Fourtlir— Equal taxation of every species of property, according to 
its real value, including Government bonds and other public securities. 

Fifth — One currency for the Government and the people, the laborer 
and the officeholder, the pensioner and the soldier, the producer and 
the bondholder. 

Sixth— Economj in the administration of the Government ; the re- 
duction of the standing army and navy ; the abolition of the Freedman's 
Bureau— and all political instrumentalities designed to secure negro 
supremacy ; simplification of the system, and discontinuance of inquis- 
itorialmodes of assessing and collecting Internal Revenue, so that the 
burden of taxation may be equalized and lessened ; the credit of the 



232 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

Government and the currency made good ; the repeal of all enactments 
for enrolling the State militia into national forces in time of peace ; 
and a tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation 
under the Internal Revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to 
domestic manufactures, and as will, without impairing the revenue, 
impose the least burden upon and yet promote and encourage the great 
industrial interests of the country. 

Seventh — Eeform of abuses in the administration, the expulsion of 
corrupt men from, office, the abrogation of useless offices, the restora- 
tion of rightful authority to, and the independence of the executive and 
judicial department of the Government ; the subordination of the mili- 
tary to the civil power, to the end that the usurpation of Congress 
and tlie despotism of the sword may cease. 

Eighth — Equal rights and protection for naturalized and native born 
citizens at home and abroad, the assertion of American nationality, 
which shall command the respect of foreign powers, and furnisli an ex- 
ample and encouragement to people struggling for national integrity^ 
constitutional liberty, and individual rights, and the maintenance of the 
rights of naturalized citizens against the absolute doctrine of immuta- 
ble allegiance, and the claims of foreign powers to punish them for al- 
leged crime committed beyond their jurisdiction. 

In demanding these measures and reforms, we arraign the Radical 
party for its disregard of right and the unparalleled oppression and 
tyranny which have marked its career. 

After the most solemn and unanimous pledge of both Houses of Con- 
gress to prosecute the war exclusively for the maintenance of tlie Gov- 
ernment, and the preservation of the Union under the Constitution, it 
has repeatedly violated that most sacred pledge under Avhich alone was 
rallied that noble volunteer army which carried our flag to victory. 
Instead of restoring the Union, it has so far as in its power, dissolved 
it, and subjected ten States, in time of profound peace, to military des- 
potism and negro supremacy. It has nullified there the right of trial by 
jury ; it has abolished the habeas corpus, that most sacred writ of liber- 
ty ; it has overthrown the freedom of speech and the press ; it has 
substituted arbitrary seizures and arrests, and military trials and se- 
cret star-chamber inquisitions for the constitutional tribunals -, it has 
disregarded in time of peace the right of the people to be free from 
searches and seizures ; it has entered the post and telegraph offices, 
and even the private rooms of individuals, and seized their private pa- 
pers and letters without any specific charge or notice oi affidavit, as re- 
quired by the organic law ; it has converted the American Capitol into 
a Bastile j it has established a system of spies and official espionage to 
which no constitutional monarchy of Europe would now dare to resort ', 
it would abolish the right of appeal on important constitutional ques- 
tions to the supreme judicial tribunal, and threatens to curtail or des- 
troy its original jurisdiction which is irrevocably vested by the Consti- 
tution, while the learned Chief- Justice has been subjected to the most 
atrocious calumnies, merely because he would not prostitute his high 
office to the support ot the false and partisan charges i)referred against 
the President. Its corruption and extravagance have exceeded every- 
thing known in history, and by its frauds and monopolies it has nearly 
doubled the burden of the debt created by the war. It has stripped 
the President of his constitutional power of appointment, even of his 
own Cabinet. Under its repeated assaults the pillars of the Govern- 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES 233 

ment are rocking on their base, and sliould it succeed in November 
next and inaugurate its President, we will meet as a subjected and con- 
quered people amid tlie ruins of liberty and the scattered fragments of 
the Constitution. 

And we do declare and resolve, that ever since the people of the 
United States threw off all subjection to the British Crown, the privil- 
ege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several States, and have 
been granted, regulated, and controlled exclusively by the political 
power of each State respectively, and that any attempt by Congress, 
on any pretext whatever, to deprive any State of this right, or inter- 
fere with its exercise, is a flagrant usurpation of power which can find 
no warrant in the Constitution, and if sanctioned by the people will 
subvert our form of government, and can only end in a single centraliz- 
ed and consolidated government, in which the separate existence of the 
States will be entirely absorbed and an unqualified despotism be es- 
tablished in place of a Federal Union of coequal States. 

And that we regard the Reconstruction acts (so-called) of Congress, 
as such, as usurpations, and unconstitutional, revolutionary and void. 

That our soldiers and sailors who carried the flag of our country to 
victory against a most gallant and determined foe must ever be gratefully 
remembered, and all the guarantees given in their favor must be faith- 
fully carried into execution. 

That the public lands should be distributed as widely as possible a- 
mong the people, and should be disposed of either under the pre-emption 
of homestead lands, or sold in reasonable quanities, and to none but ac- 
tual occupants, at the minimum price established by the Government. 
When grants of public lands may be allowed, necessary for the encour- 
agement of important public improvements, the proceeds of the sale 
of such lands, and not the lands themselves, should be applied. 

^ That the President of the United States — Andrew Johnson — in exer- 
cising the power of his high office in resisting the aggressions of Con- 
gress upon the constitutional rights of the States and the people, is en- 
titled to the gratitude of the whole American people ; and in behalf of 
the Democratic party we tender him our thanks for his x)atriotic efforts 
in that regard. 

Upon this Platform the Democratic party appeal to every patriot, 
including the conservative element and all who desire to support the 
Constitution and restore the Union, forgetting all past differences of 
opinion, to unite with us in the present great struggle for the liberties 
of the people, and that to all such, to whatever party they may have 
heretofore belonged, we extend the right hand of fellowship, and hail 
all such co-operating with us as friends and brethren. 



THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 

The National Republican Convention met at Chicago May 20, assum- 
ed the name of ''The National Union Republican Party," and nomina- 
ted General U. S. Grant, on the first ballot, as candidate for President, 
and Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, on the fifth ballot, as candidate for 
Yice-President. May 21, the Convention adopted the following plat- 
form : 



234 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

I. We congratulate tlie country on the assured success of tlie recon- 
struction policy of Congress, as e% inced by the adoption, in the major- 
ity of States lately in rebellion, of constitutions securing equal civil and 
political rights to all : and it is the duty of the Government to sustain 
those institutions and to prevent the people of such States from being 
re-admitted to a state of anarchy. 

II. The guaranty by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at 
the South was demanded by every consideration of iiublic safety, of 
gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question 
of suffrage in all the loyal States properly belongs to the people of 
those States. 

III. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime ; and 
the national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in 
the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only 
according to the letter but the spirit of the laws under which it was 
contracted 

IV. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be 
equalized and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit. 

V. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preservation 
of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period 
for redemption ; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the rate of in- 
terest thereon whenever it can be honestly done. 

yi. Tliat the best policy to diminish our burden of debt, is to so 
improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower 
rates of interest than we now pay, and must continue to pay so long as 
repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or suspect- 
ed. 

VII. Tlie Government of the United States should be administered 
with the strictest economy, and the corruptions which have been so 
shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call loudly for 
radical reform. 

VIII. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of 
Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession to the Presidency of Andrew 
Johnson, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him 
and the cause he was pledged to support ; who has usurped high legis- 
lative and judicial functions ; who has refused to execute the laws ; who 
has used his high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate 
the laws ; who has emj^loyed his executive powers to render insecure 
the property, the peace, liberty, and life of the citizen ; who has abused 
the pardoning power j who has denounced the National Legislature as 
unconstitutional ; who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every 
means in his power,every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the 
States lately in rebellion; who has perverted the ]3^hlic i)atronage 
into an engine of wholesale corruption ; and who has been justly im- 
peached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and properly pronounced 
guilty thereof by the votes of thirty-five Senators. 

IX. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, that 
because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at 
every hazard by the United States as a relic of feudal times not author- 
ized by the laws of nations, and at war with our national honor and 
independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to protection in all 
their rights of citizenship, as though they were native born; and no 
citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 235 

arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done, or words 
spoken in this country : and if so arrested and imprisoned, it is tlie 
duty of the Government to interfere in his behalf. 

X. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there were 
none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers and sea- 
men who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperilled 
their lives in the service of the country ; the bounties and pensions 
provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are ob- 
ligations never to be forgotten ; the widows and orphans of the gal- 
lant dead are the v^ards of the people — a sacred legacy, bequeathed to 
the nation's i)rotectiug care. 

XI. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to 
the wealth, development, and resources and increase of jiower to this 
Eepublic, the asylum of the opiDressed of all nations, should be foster- 
ed and encouraged by a liberal and just policy. 

XII. This convention declares itself in symi^athy with all oppressed 
people struggling for their rights. 

On motion of Carl Schurz, the following were added -. 

Hesolved. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and 
forbearance with which men who have ^rved in the rebellion — ^but who 
now frankly and honestly co-operate with us in restoring the peace of 
the country, and reconstructing the Southern State governments upon 
the basis of Impartial Justice and Equal Eights, are received back 
into the communion of the loyal people ; and we favor the removal of 
the disqualifications and restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in 
the same measure as their spirit of loyalty will direct; and as may be 
consistent with the safety of the loyal people. 

Resolved, That we recognize the great principles laid down in the 
immortal Declaration of Independence as the true foundation of Dem- 
ocratic Grovernment ; and we hail with gladness every effort making 
these principles a living reality on every inch of American soil. 



Horatio Seymour's Letter of Acceptance. 

Gentlemen: 

Utica, August 4. 

When, in the City of New York, on the 11th of July, in the x>resence 
of a vast multitude, on behalf of the National Democratic Convention, 
you tendered to me its unanimous nomination as its candidate for the 
office of President of the United States, I stated that I had no words 
adequate to express my gratitude for the good will and kindness which 
that body had shown to me. Its nomination was unsought and unexpect- 
ed. It was my ambition to take an active part, from which I am now 
excluded, in the great struggle going on for the restoration of good 
government, of peace and i)rosperity to our country. But I have been 
caught up by the whelming tide which is bearing us on to a great polit- 
ical change, and I find myself unable to resist its pressure. You have 
also given me a copy of the resolution put forth by the Convention, 
showing its ])osition upon all the great questions which now agitate 
the country. As the presiding officer of that Convention, I am familiar 
with their scope and imports; as one of its members, I am a party to 
their terms. They are in accord with my views, and I stand upon 



236 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

them in a contest upon which we are now entering, and shall strive to 
carry them out in future^ wherever I may be placed^ in political or 
private life. 

I then stated that I would send you these words of acceptance in a 
letter, as is the customary form. I see no reason, upon reflection, to 
enange or qualify the terms of my approval of the resolutions of the 
Convention. 

I have delayed the mere formal act of communicating to you in writ- 
ing what I thus publicly said, for the purpose of seeing what light the 
action of congress would throw upon the interests of the country. Its 
acts since the adjournment of the convention show an alarm lest a 
change of political power will give to the people what they ought to 
have — a clear statement of what has been done with the money drawn 
from them during the past eight years. Thoughtful men feel that there 
have been wrongs in the financial management which have been kept 
from the public knowledge. The Congressional party has not only 
allied itself with military power, which is to be brought to bear direct- 
ly upon the elections in many States, but it also holds it self inperpetual 
session, with the avowed purpose of making such laws as it shall see 
fit, in view of the elections whitti will take place within a few weeks. 
It did not, therefore, adjourn, but took a recess, to meet again if its 
partisan interests shall demand its re- assembling. Never before in the 
history of our country has Congress thus taken a menacing attitude 
towards its electors. Under its influence some of the States organized by 
its agents are proposing to deprive the people of the right to vote for 
Presidential electors, and the first bold steps are taken to destroy the 
rights of suffrage. It is not strange, therefore, that though i^ful men see 
in such action the j)roof that there is with those who shape the policy 
of the Republican party, motives stronger and deeper than the mere 
wish to hold political power; that there is a dread of some exposure 
which drives them on to acts so desperate and impolitic. 

Many of the ablest leaders and journals of the Republican party have 
openly deplored the violence of congressional action, and its tendency 
to keep up discord in our country. The great interests of our Union de- 
mand peace, order, and a return to those industrial pursuits without 
which we cannot maintain the faith or honor of our government. The 
minds of business men are perplexed by uncertainties. The hours 
of toil of our laborers are lengthened by the costs of living made by the 
direct and indirect exactions of Government. Our people are harass- 
ed by the heavy and frequent demands of the tax-gatherer. Without 
distinction of party there is a strong feeling in favor of that line of 
action which shall restore order and confidence, and shall lift off the 
burdens M^hich now hinder and vex the industry of the country. Yet 
at this moment those in power have thrown into the Senate Chamber 
and Congressional Hall new elements of discord and violence. Men 
have been admitted as Representatives of some of the Southern States, 
with the declaration upon their lips that they cannot live in the States 
they claim to represent without military protection. These men are to 
make laws for the North as well as the South. These men, who a few 
day since were seeking as suppliants that Congress would give them 
power within their respective States, are to-day the masters and con- 
trollers of the actions of those bodies. Entering them with minds filled 
with passions, their first demands have been that Congress shall look 
upon the States from which they come as in conditions of civil war; 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 237 

that the majority of their populations, embracing their intelligence, 
shall be treated as public enemies; that military forces shall be kept 
up at the cost of the people of the North, and that there shall be no 
peace and order at the South save that which is made by arbitrary'- power. 
Every intelligent man knows that these men owe their seats in Congress 
to the disorder in the South; every man knows that they not only owe 
their present positions to disorder, but that every motive springing 
from the love of power, of gain, of a desire for vengeance prompts 
them to keep the South in anarchy. While that exists, they are inde- 
pendent of the wills or wishes of their fellow-citizens. While confusion 
reigns they are the dispensers of the profits and the honors which grow 
outof the government of mere force. These men are now i^laced in 
position where they cannot merely urge their views of policy, but where 
they can enforce them. When others shall be admitted in this manner 
from the remaining Southern States, although they will have in truth 
no constituents, they will have more power in the Senate than a majori- 
ty of people of this Union living in nine of the great States. In vaiu 
the wisest members of the Republican party iDrotested against the j)olicy 
that led to this result. While the chiefs of the late rebellion have sub- 
mitted to the results of the war, and are now quietly engaged in useful 
pursuits for the support of themselves and their families, and are try- 
ing by the force of their example to lead back the people of the South 
to the order and industry, not only essential to their well being, but to 
the greatness and prosperity of our common country, we see that those 
who, without ability or influence, have been thrown by the agitations 
of civil convulsion into positions of honor and profit, are striving to 
keep alive the passions to which they owe their elevation. And they 
clamorously insist that they are the onl}^ friends of our Union — a Union 
that can only have a sure foundation in fraternal regard and a common 
desire to promote the peace, the order, and the happiness of all sections 
of our land. 

Events in Congress since the adjournment of the Convention have 
vastly increased the importance of a political victory by those who are 
seeking to bring back economy, simplicity, and justice in the adminis- 
tration of our national affairs. Many Republicans have heretofore clung 
to their party who have regretted the extreme of violence to which it has 
run. They have cherished a faith that while the action of their polit- 
ical friends has been mistaken, their motives have been good. They must 
now see that the Republican party is in that condition that it cannot 
carry out a wise and peaceful policy, whatever its motives may be. It 
is a misfortune not only to the country, but to a governing party 
itself, when its action is unchecked by any form of opposition. 
It has been the misfortune of the Republican party that the events of the 
past few years have given it so much power that it has been able to 
schackle the Executive, to trammel the Judiciary, and to carry out the 
views of the most unwise and violent of its members. When this state 
of things exists in any party, it has ever been found that the sober judg- 
ments of its ablest leaders do not control. There is hardly an able 
men who has helped to build up the Republican organization, who has 
not, within the past three years, warned it against its excesses, who has 
not been borne down and forced to give up his convictions of what the 
country called for; or, if too patriotic to do this, who has not been driv- 
en from its ranks. If this has been the case heretofore, what will be its 
action now with this new infusion of men who, without a decent respect 



238 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

for the views of tliose who had just given them their position, begin 
their legislative career with calls for arms, wHh demands tliat their 
States shall be regarded as in a condition of civil war, and with a de- 
claration that they are ready and anxious to degTade the President of 
the United States, whenever they can persuade or force Congress to 
bring forward new articles of impeachment. 

The Republican party, as well as we, are interested in putting some 
check upon this violence. It must be clear to every thinking man that 
a division of political power tends to check the violence of party action 
and to assure the i)eaee and good order of society. The elec- 
tion of a Democratic Executive and a majority of Democratic 
members to the House of Eepresentatives would not give to that 
party organization the power to make sudden and violent changes, 
but it would serve to check those extreme measures which have been 
deplored by the best men of both political organizations. The result 
would most certainly lead to that peaceful restoration of the Union and 
re-establishment of fraternal relationship which the country desires. 
I am sure that the best men of the Republican party deplore as deeply 
as I do the spirit of violence shown by those recently admitted to seats 
in Congress from the South. The condition of civil war which they 
contemx^late must be abhorrent to every right thinking man. 

I liave no mere i^ersonal wishes which mislead my judgment in regard 
to the pending election. No man who has weighed and measured the 
duties of the office of President of the United States, can fail to be im- 
pressed with the cares and toils of him who is to meet its demands. 
It is not merely to float with popular currents, without a policy or a 
puri^ose. On the contrary, while our Constitution gives just weight to 
the public will, its distinguishing feature is that it seeks to i^rotect 
the rights of minorities. Its greatest glory is that it puts restraints 
upon power. It gives form and force to those maxims and principles 
of civil liberty for which the martyrs of freedom have struggled through 
ages. It declares the right of the pieople : '' To be secure in their per- 
sons, houses and papers against unreasonable searches and seizures. 
That Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of relig- 
ion or the free exercises thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or 
of the press, or the right of the people to petition for the redress of 
grievances. It secures the right of a speedy and public trial by an im- 
partial jury." 

No man can rightfully enter upon the duties of the Presidential of- 
fice unless he is not only willing to carry out the wishes of the people, 
expressed in a constitutional way, but is also i)repared to stand up for 
the rights of minorities. He must be ready to uj)hold the free exercise 
of religion. He must denounce measures which would wrong personal 
or home rights, or the religious conscience of the humblest citizen of the 
land. He must maintain, without distinction of creed or nationality, 
all the privileges of American citizenship. 

The experience of eveiy public man who has been faithful to his trust 
teaches him that no one can do the duties of the office of President unless 
he is ready not only to undergo the falsehoods and abuse of the bad, but 
to suffer from the censure of the good who are misled by prejudices and 
misrepresentation. There are no attractions in such positions, which 
deceive my judgment, when I say that a great change is going on in 
the public mind. The mass of the Republican party are more thought- 
ful, temperate, and just than they were during the excitements which 



OCNSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 239 

attended the progress and close of the civil war. As the energy of the 
Democratic party springs from their devotion to their cause and not to 
their candidates, I may with propriety speak of the fact that never in 
the political history of onr country has the action of any like body been 
hailed with such universal and widespread enthusiasm as that which 
has been shown in relation to the position of the National Democratic 
Convention. With this tho candidates had nothing to do. Had any 
others of those named been selected, this spirit would have been, per- 
haps, more marked. The zeal and energy of the conservative masses 
spring from a desire to make a change of political policy, and from the 
confidence that they can carry out th eir policy. 

In this faith they are strengthened by the co-operation of the great 
body of those who served in the Union army and navy during the war. 
Having given nearly sixteen thousand commissions to the officers of 
that army, I know their views and wishes. They demand the Union 
for which they fought. The largest meeting of these gallant soldiers 
which ever assembled was held in New Yorl?:, and indorsed the action 
of the National Convention. In words instinct with meaning, they 
Called upon the Grovernment to stox) in its policy of hate, discord and 
disunion, and in tones of fervid eloquence they demanded the restora- 
tion of the rights and liberties of the American peoj)le. 

When there is such accord between those who prove themselves 
brave and self-sacrificing in war, and those who are thoughtful and 
patriotic in council, I cannot doubt we shall gain a political triumph 
which will restore our Union, bring back peace and prosperity to our 
land, and will give us once more the blessings of a wise, economical and 
honest Government. 

I am, Gentlemen, truly, yours, &c, 

Horatio Seymour. 
To Gen. G. W. Morgan, and others. Committee, &c., &c. 



GENEEAL GRANT'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 

Washington, June 1. 
To J. B. Saidey, President of the N'ational Union BeinibUcan Convention: 

In formally accepting the nomination of the National Union Rei^ubli- 
can Convention of the 21st, of May, it seems proper that some state- 
ment of views beyond the mere acceptance of the nomination should 
be expressed. 

The proceedings of the Convention were marked with unusual mod- 
eration and patriotism, and I believe express the feelings of the great 
jnass of those who sustained the country through its recent trials. If 
elected to the office of President of the United States, it shall be my en- 
deavor to administer all the laws in good faith, with economy, and 
with a view of giving peace, quiet and protection everywhere. 

In times like the present it is impossible or at least eminently improp- 
er, to lay down a policy to be adhered to, right or wrong, through an 
administration of four years. New political issues not foreseen are 
constantly arising, to the views of the public, and old ones are constant- 
ly changing, and a purely administrative officer should be left free to ex- 
ecute the will of the people. I always have resi>ected that will, and 
always shall. Peace and universal prosperity is its sequence and with 



240 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

economy of administration, will lighten the burden of taxation, while it 
constantly reduces the national debt. Let us have peace. 
With great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

U. S. GKANT. 



KATIOl^AL PLATFOEMS OF 1872. 



THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFOEM. 

Adopted by the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore, July, 
1872. 

We, the Democratic electors of the United States in convention as- 
sembled, do present the following principles, already adopted at Cin- 
cinnati, as essential to just government. 

First: We recognize the equality of all men before the law, and 
hold that it is the duty of government in its dealings with the people to 
mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color 
or persuasion, religious or political. 

Second : We pledge ourselves to maintain the union of these States, 
emancipation, and enfranchisement, and to oppose any reopening of the 
questions settled by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amend- 
ments to the constitui ion. 

Third : We demand the immediate and absolute removal of all dis- 
abilities imposed on account of the rebellion, which was finally subdued 
seven years ago, believing that universal amnesty will result in com- 
plete pacification in all sections of the country. 

Fourth: Local self-government, with impartial suffrage, will guard 
the rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized power. 
The public welfare requires the supremacy of the civil over the military 
authority, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas 
corpus. We demand for the individual the largest liberty consistent 
with public order ; for the State, self-government, and for the nation a 
return to the methods of peace and the constitutional limitations of 
power. 

Fifth : The Civil Service of the government has become a mere in- 
strument of partisan tyranny and personal ambition, and an object of 
selfish greed. It is a scandal and reproach upon free institutions, and 
breeds a demoralization dangerous to the perpetuity of republican gov- 
ernment. We therefore regard such thorough reforms of the Civil Ser- 
vice as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour , that honesty, 
capacity, and fidelity constitute the only valid claim to public employ- 
ment , that the ofiices of the government cease to be a matter of arbi- 
trary fiiYoritism and patronage, and that public station become again a 
post of honor. To this end it is imperatively required that no President 
shall be a candidate for re-election. 

Sixth : We demand a system of federal taxation which shall not un- 
necessarily interfere with the industry of the people, and which shall 
provide the means necessary to pay the expenses of the government 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OP UNITED STATES. 241 

economically administered, the pensions, the interest on the public 
debt, and a moderate reduction annually of the principal thereof, and, 
recognizing that there are in our midtit honest but irreconcilable differ- 
ences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection and 
free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their 
Congress Districts, and to the decision of the Congress thereon, wholly 
free of executive interference or dictation. 

Seventh : The public credit must be sacredly maintained, and we 
denounce repudiation in every form and guise. 

Eighth : A speedy return to specie payments is demanded alike by 
the highest considerations of commercial morality and honest govern- 
ment. 

Nintli : We remember with gratitude the heroism and sacrifices of 
the soldiers and sailors of the republic, and no act of ours shall ever 
detract from their justly-earned fame for the full reward of their pa- 
triotism. 

Tenth : We are opposed to all further grants of lands to railroads or 
other corporations. The public domain should be held sacred to actual 
settlers. 

Meventh : We hold that it is the duty of the government, in its 
intercourse with foreign nations, to cultivate the friendship of peace, 
by treating with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it alike dishon- 
orable either to demand what is not right, or to submit to what is 
wrong. 

Twelfth : For the promotion and success of these vital principles and 
the support of the candidates nominated by this convention, we invite 
and cordially welcome the co-operation of all patriotic citizens, without 
regard to previous afiEiliations. 



THE REPUBLICAN PLATFOEM. 

Adopted by the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia, 
June, 1872. 

The Republican Party of the United States, assembled in National 
Convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of June, 
1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and announces its 
position upon the questions before the country : 

First : During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted with grand 
courage the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic re- 
bellion, emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal citizen- 
ship of all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting unparalleled 
magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for political offences, and 
warmly welcomed all who proved their loyalty by obeying the laws 
and dealing justly with their neighbors. It has steadily decreased, 
with a firm hand, the resultant disorders of a great war, and initiated a 
wise policy toward the Indians. The Pacific Railroad and similar vast 
enterprises have been generally aided and successfully conducted ; the 
public lands freely given to actual settlers ; immigration protected and 
encouraged, and a lull acknowledgment of the naturalized citizens' 
rights secured from European powers. A uniform national currency 
has been provided : repudiation frowned down : the national credit 



242 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES, 

sustained under most extraordinary burdens, and new bonds negotiat- 
ed at lower rates ; the revenues have been carefully collected and hon- 
estly applied. Despite the annual large reductions of rates of taxation, 
the public debt has been reduced during Gen. Grant's presidency at the 
rate of $100,000,000 a year. A great financial crisis has been avoided, 
and peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign 
difficulties have been peacefully and honorably compromised, and the 
honor and the power of the nation kept in high respect throughout the 
world. This glorious record of the past is the parties best pledge for the 
future. We believe the people will not intrust the government to any 
party or combination of men composed chiefly of those who have 
resisted every step of this beneficial progress. 

Second: Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all 
civil, political, and public rights should be established and effectually 
maintained throughout the Union, by efficient and appropriate State and 
federal legislation. Neither the law nor its adminstration should admit 
of any discrimination in respect of citizen by reason of race, creed, col- 
or, or previous condition of servitude. 

Third : The recent amendments to the national Constitution should 
be cordially sustained, because they are right, not merely tolerated be- 
cause they are law, and should be carried out according to their spirit 
by appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can be safely 
trusted only to the party that secured those amendments. 

Fourth : The national government should seek to maintain an honor- 
able peace with all nations, protecting its citizens everywhere, and sym- 
pathizing with all people who strive for greater liberty. 

Fifth : Any system of the Civil Service under which the subordinate 
positions of the government are considered rewards for mere party zeal, 
is fatally demoralizing ; and we, therefore, favor a reform of the system ^ 
by laws, which shall abolish the evils of patronage, and make honesty, ' 
efficiency, and fidelity the essential qualifications for public position, 
without practically creating a life tenure- of- office. 

Sixth: We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to corp- 
orations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be set 
apart for free homes for the people. 

Seventh : The annual revenues, after paying the current debts, should 
furnish a moderate balance for the reduction of the principal, and the 
revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax on tobacco and 
liquors, be raised by duties upon importations, the duties of which 
should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, 
and promote the industries, growth, aud prosperity of the whole coun- 
try. 

Eighth : We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose 
valor saved the Union ; their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, 
and the widows and orphans of those who die for their country are en- 
titled to the care of a generous and grateful people. We favor such 
additional legislation as will extend the bounty of the government to 
all our soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who in 
the line of duty became disabled, without regard to the length of service 
or the cause of such discharge. 

Ninth : The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers 
concerning allegiance — '' Once a subject always a subject" — having 
at last, through the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned, and 
the American idea of the individual's right to transfer his allegiance 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 243 

having been accepted by European nations, it is the duty ot our govern- 
ment to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens against the 
assumption of unauthorized claims by their former government; and we 
urge the continual and careful encouragement and protection of vol- 
untary immigration. 

Tenth: The franking privilege ought to be abolished, and the way 
prepared for a speedy reduction in tlie rate of postage. 

Eleventh : Among the questions which press for attention is that which 
concerns the relations of capital and labor, and the Republican party 
recognize the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protection 
and the amplest field for capital, and for labor the creator of capital, 
the largest opportunities, and a just share of the mutual profits of these 
two great servants of civilization. 

Twelfth: We hold that Congress and the President have only ful- 
filled an imperative duty in their measures for suppression of violent 
and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and 
for the protection of the ballot-box, and therefore they are entitled to 
the thanks of the nation. 

Thirteenth: We denounce repudiation of the public debt in any form 
or disguise as a national crime. We witness with pride the reduction 
of the principal of the debt and of the rates of interest upon the balance, 
and confidently expect that our excellent national currency will be 
perfected by a speedy resumption of specie payments. 

Fourteenth : The Republican party is mindful of its obligation to the 
loyal women of America, for their noble devotion to the cause of free- 
dom. Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is received with 
satisfaction, and the honest demands of any class of citizens for addi- 
tional rights should be treated with respectful consideration. 

Fifteenth : We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending 
amnesty to those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of peace 
and fraternal feeling throughout the land. 

Sixteenth : The Republican party propose to respect the rights re- 
served by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers delegat- 
ed by them to the state and to the federal government. It disapproves 
of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing 
evils by the people to either the State or national government. 

Seventeenth: It is the duty of the general government to adopt such 
measures as will tend to encourage American commerce and ship- 
ing. 

Eighteenth : We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest pur- 
pose, interference with rights not surrendered by the sound judgement, 
the practical wisdom, the incorruptible integrity and the illustrious 
services of Ulysses S. Grant have commended him to the heart of the 
American people, and with him at our head we start to-day upon a 
new march to victory. 



^44 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES^ 



THE ORIGINAL 

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 



TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. 

We, the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send 
greeting. 
WHEREAS the Delegates of the United States of America in Con- 
gress assembled, did, on tlie fifteenth Day of November, in the Year 
of onr Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy- seven, and in 
the second Year of the Independence of America, agree to certain 
Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Del- 
aware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, 
in the Words following, viz : — 

Articles of confederation and perpetual TJnion between the States of New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts JBay, Bhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 
ARTICLE I. The Style of this Confederacy shall be ^^The United 
States of America." 

ART. II. Each State retains its Sovereignty, Freedom, and Inde- 
pendence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and Right, which is not by 
this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Con- 
gress assembled. 

ART. HI. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm 
League of Friendship with each other, for their common Defence, the 
Security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general Welfare ; 
binding themselves to assist each other, against all Force offered to, or 
Attacks made upon them, or any of them, on Account of Religion, Sov- 
ereignty, Trade, or any other Pretence whatever. 

ART. IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual Friendship 
and Intercourse among the People of the different States in this Union, 
the free Inhabitants of each of these States, Paupers, Vagabonds, and 
Fugitives from Justice excepted, shall be entitled to all Privileges and 
immunities of citizens in the several States -, and the People of each 
State shall have free Ingress and Regress to and from any other State, 
and shall enjoy therein all the Privileges of Trade and Commerce, sub- 
ject to the same Duties, Impositions, and Restrictions as the Inhabi- 
tants thereof respectively, provided that such Restrictions shall not ex- 
tend so far as to prevent the Removal of Property imported into any 
State, to any other State of which the Owner is an Inhabitant ; pro- 
vided also, that no Imposition, Duties, or Restriction shall be laid by 
any State, on the Property of the United States, or either of them. 

If any Person guilty of, or charged with Treason, Felony, or 
other high Misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from Justice, and be 



' CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 245 

round in any of the United States, lie shall, upon Demand of the Gov- 
ernment or executive Power of the State from whicli he fled, be deliv- 
ered up and removed to the State having Jurisdiction of his Offenceo 

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each of these States to the 
Records, Acts and Judicial Proceedings of the Courts and Magistrates 
of every other State, 

ART. Y. For the more convenient Management of the general In- 
terests of the United States, Delegates shall»be annually appointed, in 
such Manner as the Legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in 
Congress on the first Monday in November, in every Year ; with a 
Power reserved to each State, to recal its Delegates, or any of them, at 
any Time within the Year, and to send others in their Stead, for the 
Remainder of the Year. 

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by 
more than seven Members ,- and no Person shall be capable of being a 
Delegate for more than three Years in any Term of six Years; nor 
shall any Person, being a Delegate, be capable of holding any Office 
under the United States- for which he, or another for his Benefit, re- 
ceives Salary, Fees, or Emolument of any Kind. 

Each State shall maintain its own Delegates in a Meeting of the 
States, and while they act as Members of the Committee of the States. 

In determining Questions in the United States, in Congress assem- 
bled, each State shall have one Yote. 

Freedom of Speech and Debate in Congress shall not be impeached or 
questioned in any Court, or Place out of Congress, and the Members of 
Congress shall be protected in their Persons from Arrests and Impris- 
onments, during the Time of their going to, and from, and attendance 
on Congress, except for Treason, Felony, or Breach of the Peace. 

ART. VI. No State, without the Consent of the United States in 
Congress assembled, shall send any Embassy to, or receive any Em- 
bassy from, or enter into any Conference, Agreement, Alliance, or 
Treaty with any King, Prince, or State ; nor shall any Person holding 
any Office of Profit or Trust under the United States, or any of them 
accept of any Present, Emolument, Office, or Title of any Kind what- 
ever from any King, Prince, or foreign State ; nor shall the United 
States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any Title of No- 
bility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any Treaty, Confederation, 
or Alliance whatever between them, without the Consent of the United 
States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the Purposes for 
which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any Imposts or Duties, \thich may interfere with 
any Stipulations in Treaties, entered into by the United States in Con- 
gress assembled, with any King, Prince, or State, in pursuance of any 
Treaties already proposed by Congress, to the Courts of France and 
Spain. 

No Vessels of War shall be kept up in Time of Peace by any State, ex- 
cept such Number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United 
States in Congress assembled, for the Defence of such State, or its 
Trade; nor shall any Body of Forces be kept up by any State, in 
Time of Peace, except such Number only, as in the Judgment of the 
United States, in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to gar- 
rison the Forts necessary for the Defence of such State; but every 
State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined Militia, 



246 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

sufficiently armed and accoutred and shall provide and constantly 
have ready for Use, in public Stores, a due Number of Fieldpieces and 
TentS; and a proper Quantity of Arms, Ammunition and Camp-equip- 
age. 

No State shall engage in any War without the Consent of the United 
States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by 
Enemies, or shall have received certain Advice of a Resolution being 
formed by some Nation of Indians to invade such State, and the Dan- 
ger is so imminent as not to admit of a Delay, till the United States in 
Congress assembled can be consulted: nor shall any State grant Com- 
missions to any Ships or Vessels of War, nor Letters of Marque or Re- 
prisal, except it be after a Declaration of War by the United States in 
Congress assembled, and then only against the Kingdom or State and 
the Subjects thereof, against which War has been so declared, and un- 
der such Regulations as shall be established by the United States in 
Congress assembled ; unless such State be infested by Pirates, in which 
Case Vessels of War may be fitted out for that Occasion, and kept so 
long as the Danger shall continue, or until the United States in Con- 
gress assembled shall determine otherwise. 

ART. VII. When land Forces are raised by any State for the Com- 
mon Defense, all Of&cers of or under the Rank of Colonel shall be ap- 
pointed by the Legislature of each State respectively, by whom such 
Forces shall be raised, or in such Manner as such State shall direct j 
and all Vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the 
Appointment. 

ART. VIII. All Charges of War, and all other Expenses that shall 
be incurred for the common Defence or general Welfare, and allowed 
by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a 
common Treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in 
Proportion to the Value of all Land within each State, granted to or 
surveyed for any Person, as such Land and the Buildings and Im- 
provements thereon shall be estimated, according to such Mode as the 
United States in Congress assembled shall from Time to Time direct 
and appoint. 

The Taxes for paying that Proportion shall be laid and levied by the 
Authority and Direction of the Legislature of the several States, within 
the Time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. 

ART. IX. The United States in Congress assembled shall have the 
sole and exclusive Right and Power of determining on Peace and War, 
except in the Cases mentioned in the sixth Article — of sending and re- 
ceiving Ambassadors — ^^entering into Treaties and Alliances, provided 
that no Treaty of Commerce shall be made, whereby the Legislative 
Power of the respective States shall be restrained from imposing such 
Imposts and Duties on Foreigners, as their own People are subjected 
to, or from prohibiting the Exportation or Importation of any Species 
of Goods or Commodities whatsoever — of establishing Rules for decid- 
ing, in all Cases, what Captures on Land or Water shall be legal, and 
in what Manner Prizes taken by land or naval Forces in the Service of 
the United States shall be divided or appropriated — of granting Let- 
ters of Marque and Reprisal in Times of Peace — appointing Courts for 
the Trial of Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas — and 
establishing Courts for receiving and determining finally Appeals in all 
Cases of Captures, provided that no Member of Congress shall be ap- 
pointed a Judge of any of the said Courts. 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 242 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last Ee- 
sort on Appeal in all Disputes and Differences now subsisting, or that 
hereafter may arise between two or more States, concerning Bound- 
ary, Jurisdiction, or any other Cause whatever ; which Authority shall 
always be exercised in the Manner following. Whenever the legisla- 
tive or executive Authority, or lawful Agent of any State in contro- 
versy with another, shall present a Petition to Congress, stating the Mat- 
ter in Question, and praying for a Hearing, Notice thereof shall be 
given by Order of Congress to the legislative or executive Authority of 
the other State in Controversy, and a Day assigned for the Appearance 
of the Parties by their lawful Agents, who shall then be directed to ap- 
point, by joint Consent, Commissioners or Judges to constitute a Court 
for hearing and determining the Matter in Question ; but if they can- 
not agree. Congress shall name three Persons out of each of the United 
States, and from the List of such Persons each Party shall alternately 
strike out one, the Petitioners beginning, until the Number shall be so 
reduced to thirteen ; and from that Number not less than seven, nor 
more than nine Names, as Congress shall direct, shall in the Presence of 
Congress be drawn by Lot, and the Persons whose Names shall be 
drawn, or any five of them, shall be Commissioners or Judges, to hear 
and finally determine the Controversy, so always as a major Part of 
the Judges who shall hear the Cause shall agree in the Determination : 
and if either Party shall neglect to attend at the Day appointed, with- 
out showing Keasons which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being 
present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate 
three Persons out of each State, and the Secretary of Congress shall 
strike in behalf of such Party absent or refusing ; and the Judgment 
and the Sentence of the Court to be appointed, in the Manner before 
prescribed, shall be final and conclusive ; and if any of the Parties shall 
refuse to submit to the Authority of such Court, or to appear or defend 
their Claim or Cause, the Court shall nevertheless proceed to pro- 
nounce Sentence, or Judgment, which shall in like Manner be final and 
decisive ; the Judgment or Sentence and other Proceedings being in 
either Case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the Acts of Con- 
gress, for the Security of the Parties concerned : provided that every 
Commissioner, before he sits in Judgment, shall take an Oath, to be 
administered by one of the Judges of the Supreme or Superior Court of 
the State where the Cause shall be tried, ^' well and truly to hear and de- 
termine the Matter in Question, according to the best of his Judgment^ 
without Favor, Affection, or Hope of Meward;'''' provided also that no 
State shall be deprived of Territory for the benefit of the United 
States. 

All Controversies concerning the private Eight of Soil .claimed under 
different Grants of two or more states whose Jurisdictions, as they 
may respect such Lands, and the States which passed such Grants 
are adjusted, the said Grants or either of them being at the same Time 
claimed to have originated antecedent to such Settlement of Jurisdic- 
tion, shall, on the Petition of either party to the CongTess of the United 
States, be finally determined as near as may be in the same Manner as 
is before prescribed for deciding Disputes respecting territorial Juris- 
diction between different States. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and 
exclusive Eight and Power of regulating the Alloy and Value of Coin 
struck by their own Authority, or by that of the respective States — fix- 



248 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES. 

ing the Standard of Weights and Measures throughout the United States 
■ — regulating the Trade and managing all Affairs with the Indians, not 
Members of any of the States, provided that the legislative Right of any- 
State within its own Limits be not infringed or violated — establishing 
and regulating Post-Ofiices from one State to another, throughout all 
the United States, and exacting such Postage on the Papers passing 
through the same as may be requisite to defray the Expenses of the said 
Office— appointing all Officers of the land Forces, in the Service of the 
United States, excepting regimental Officers — appointing all the Officers 
of the naval Forces, and commissioning all Officers whatever in the Ser- 
vice of the United States — making Eules for the Government and Reg- 
ulation of the said land and naval Forces^ and directing their Opera- 
tions. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall have Authority to ap- 
point a Committee, to sit in the Recess of Congress, to be denominated 
'^ a Committee of the States," and to consist of one Delegate from each 
State ; and to appoint such other Committees and civil Officers as may be 
necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their 
direction to appoint one of their Number to preside, provided that no 
Person be allowed to serve in the Office of President more than one year 
in any term of three Years ; to ascertain the necessary Sums of Money to 
be raised for the Service of the United States, and to appropriate and ap- 
ply the same for defraying the public Expenses- -to borrow Money, or emit 
Bills on the credit of the United States, transmitting every half Year to 
the respective States an Account of the sums of Money so borrowed or emit- 
ted — to build and equip a Navy — to agree upon the Number of land 
Forces, and to make Requisitions from each State for its Quota, in pro- 
portion to the Number of white Inhabitants in such State ; which Re- 
quisitions shall be binding, and thereupon the Legislature of each State 
shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the Men, and clothe, arm, 
and equip them in a soldier-like Manner, at the expense of the United 
States ', and the officers and Men so clothed, armed and equipped, shall 
march to the Place appointed and within the Time agreed on by the 
United States in Congress assembled ; but if the United States in Con- 
gress assembled shall, on consideration of circumstances, judge proper 
that any State should not raise men or should raise a smaller number 
than its Quota and that any other State should raise a greater Number 
of Men than the Quota thereof, such extra Number shall, be raised, 
officered, clothed, armed, and equipped in the same Manner as the 
Quota of such State, unless the Legislature of such State shall judge 
that such extra Number cannot be safely spared out of the Same, in 
which Case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and equip as many 
of such extra Number as they judge can be safely spared. And 
the Officers and Men so clothed, armed and equipped shall march to 
the place appointed, and withm the Time agreed on by the United 
States in Congress assembled. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a 
War, nor grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal in Time of Peace, nor 
enter into Treaties or Alliances, nor coin Money, nor regulate the Value 
thereof, nor ascertain the Sums and Expenses necessary for the Defence 
and Welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit Bills, nor 
borrow Money on the Credit of the United States, nor appropriate 
Money, nor agree upon the Number of Vessels of War, to be built or 
purchased, or the Number of land or sea Forces to be raised nor 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 249 

f 

appoint a Commander in chief of the Army or Navy, unless nine States 
assent to the same, nor shall a Question on any other point, except for 
adjourning from Day to Day bedetermined, unless by the Votes ^ of 
a Majority of the United States in Congress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have Power to Adjourn to any 
Time within the Year, and to any place within the United States so that 
no Period of Adjournment be for a longer Duration than the Space of 
six Months ; and shall publish the Journal of their Proceedings Monthly^ 
except such parts thereof relating to Treaties, Alliances, or Military 
Operations, as in their Judgment require Secrecy ; and Yeas and Nays 
of the Delegates of each State on any Question shall be entered on 
the Journal, when it is desired by any Delegate ; and the Delegates of 
a State, or any of them, at his or their Request, shall be furnished 
with a Transcript of the said Journal, except such Parts as are above 
excepted, to lay before the Legislature of the several States. 

ART. X. The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be 
authorized to execute, in the Recess of Congress, such of the Powers of 
Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the Consent of 
nine States shall from Time to Time think expedient to vest them with; 
provided that no Power be delegated to the said Committee, for the 
Exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, the Voice of nine 
States in the Congress of the Untited Sates assembled is requisite. 

ART. XI. Canada acceding to this Confederation, and joining in the 
Measures of the United States, shall be admitted into and entitled to 
all the Advantages of this Uniouj but no other Colony shall be admit- 
ted into the Same, unless such Admission be agreed to by n ine States. 

ART. XII. All Bills of Credit emitted, Moneys borrowed, and Debts 
contracted by,or under the Authority of Congress, before the Assembling 
of the United States, in pursuance of present Confederation, shall be 
deemed and considered as a Charge against the United States for Pay- 
ment and Satisfaction whereof, the said United States, and the Public 
Faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

ART. XIII. Every State shall abide by the Determinations of the 
United States in Congress assembled on all Questions which by this 
Confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this Con- 
federation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union 
shall be perpetual; nor shall any Alteration at any Time hereafter be 
made in any of them, unless such Alteration be agreed to by a Congress 
of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures 
of every State. 

And whereas it hath pleased the great Governor of the World to in- 
cline the Hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Con- 
gress to approve of and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of 
Confederation and perpetual Union ; Know ye, that we, the under- 
signed Delegates, by virtue of the Power and Authority to us given for 
that Purpose, do by these Presents, in the Name and in behalf of our re- 
spective Constituents fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and 
every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union and 
all and singular the Matters and Things therein contained: and 
we do further solemnly plight and engage the Faith of our respective 
Constituents, that they shall abide by the Determinations of the 
United States in Congress assembled, on all Questions which by the 
said Confederation are submitted to them : and that the Articles there- 



SSO CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES. 

of shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectively repre- 
sent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our Hands in Congress. 
Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania, the ninth Day of 
July in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy 
eight, and in the third Year of the Independence of America. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of New Samjpshire. 

JOSIAH BARTLETT, JOHN WENTWORTH, Jun., August 8, 1778. 

On the Fart and Behalf of ilie State of Massachusetts Bay. 

JOHN HANNOCK, ELBRIDGE GERRY, JAMES LOVELL, 

SAMUEL ADAMS, FRANCIS DANA, SAMUEL HOLTEN. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State ofB. I., and Providence Plantations, 

WILLIAM ELLERY, HENRY MARCHANT, JOHN COLLINS. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of Connecticut. 

ROGER SHERMAN, OLIVER WOLCOTT, ANDREW ADAMS. 

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, TITUS HOSMER, 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of New YorTc. 

JAS. DUANE, ERA. LEWIS, WM. DUER, GOUV, MORRIS. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of New Jersey. 

JNO. WITHERSPOON, Nov. 26, 1778. NATH SCUDDER, do. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of Pennsylvania. 

ROBT, MORRIS, JONA. BAYARD SMITH, JOS, REED, 22cl July, 1778. 

DANIEL ROBERDEAU, WILLIAM CLINGAN. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of Belaware. 

THOS. M'KEAN, Feb. 13, 1779 NICHOLAS VAN DYKE. 

JOHN DICKINSON, May 5tli, 1779 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of Maryland. 

JOHN HANSON, March 1, 1781. DANIEL CARROLL, do. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of Virginia. 

RICHARD HENRY LEE, THOMAS ADAMS, FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE. 
JOHN BANISTER, JNO. HARVIE, 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of North Carolina. 

JOHN PENN, July 21st, 1778. CORNS. HARNETT, JNO. WILLIAMS. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of South Carolina. 

HENRY LAURENS, JNO. MATHEWS, THOMAS HEYWARD, Jun. 

WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, RICHARD HUTSON. 

On the Part and Behalf of the State of Georgia. 

JNO. WALTON, 24th July, 1778. ED WD. TELFAIR, EDW. LANGWORTHY. 

[Note.— From the circumstance of delegates from the same state having signed the 
Articles of Confederation at different times, as appears hy the dates, it is probable 
they affixed their names as they happened to be present in Congress, after they had 
been authorized by their constituents.] 



CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. ^51 

UI>riTED STATES G O YEE-^MEKT. 

December 20. 1874. 

THE EXECUTIVE. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT, of IWinois, President of the TJnited States Salary $50,000 

HENRY WILSON, of Massachusetts, Vice-President of the United States. —".^^ 10,000 



THE CABINET. 

HAMILTON FISH, of New York, Secretary of State Salary $10,000 

10,000 
10,000 
10.000 

io;ooo 

10,000 



BENJAMIN H. BRISTOW, of Kentucky, Secretary of the Treasury. 

WILLIAM W. BELKNAP, of Iowa, Secretary of War 

GEORGE M. ROBESON, of New Jersey, Secretary of the Navy. 

COLUMBUS DELANO, of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior 

EDWARD PIERREPONT, of New Yov^, Attorney-General.... 
MARSHALL JEWELL, of Connecticut, Postmaster-General... 



THE JUDICIARY. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
MORRISON R. WAITE, of Ohio, Chief Justice .tT.. . .Salary $10,500 



Nathan Clifford, of Maine, Ass., Justice. 
Noah H. Swayne, of Ohio, " " 

Samuel F. Miller, of Iowa, " " 

David Davis, of Illinois, 



Stephen J. Field, of Cal., Ass., Justice. 
William M. Strong, of Pa., " 
Joseph P. Bradley, of N. J., 
Ward Hunt, of N. Y., 



Salary of Associate Justices, $10,000. i Court meets first Monday in Dec. at Washington.' 

MINISTERS TO^FOBEIGN COUNTRIES. 

ENVO YS EXTRA ORDINAR Y'ANDJIINISTERS^^PLENIPOTENTIARY, 

Country. Capital. iMinistersJ Salary. Appointed^ 

Austria— Hungary .Vienna rrr: John Jay^N. Yrr>rr-.-. . . .^-r7Tr:-r. $12,000. . .'.1868 

Brazil Rio Janeiro . V. . . James R. Partridge, Md . '. : '.:.:. 12,000 1871 

Chili Santiago.. ....... Cornelius A. Logan, Kansas.... 10,000 1873 j 

China Pekin .......Benjamin P. Avery, Cal 12,000 1874 

France , Paris .Elihu B. Washburne, 111 17,500. . .1869 

Great Britain London. . . . ... . .Robert C. Schenck, Ohio 17,500. . . .1870 

Italy Rome. . . .;:... ; . .George P. Marsh, Vt t:: . . . 12,000. . . .1861J 

Japan Yedo ........ ....John A. Bingham, Ohio..^:':... 12,000.... 1873 

Mexico : . . .Mexico . . . . .. . . . .John W. Foster, Indiana. . .' 12,000 — 18731 

Peru Lima..... :."..... Francis Thomas, Md 10,000 — 1872 

Germany Berlin J. C. Bancroft Davis, Mass 17,500 1874 

Russia .St. Petersburg : 17,500 «"^ 

Spain Madrid. . , Caleb Gushing, Va.'.Tf .\ .: '^ . . . . 12.000. . . .1874 

MINISTERS RESIDENT.'^ 

Argentine Republic Buenos Ayres. . .Thomas O. OsbornTlll. . . . . . rrf!f^500 .'?T! 1874 

Belgium Brussels. J. Russell Jones, 111. . . :r.t.Tr. .^'' 7,500 1869 

Boliva La Paz Robert M. Reynolds, Ala, . : . .'. . 7,500. . . .1874 

Cent. American States San Jose George Williamson, La 10,000 1873 

Denmark Copenhagen M. J. Cramer, Ky 7,500. . . .1870 

Ecuador Quito 7,500 ' 

Greece Athens J. Meredith Read, Pa 7,.500. . . .1873 

Hawaiian Islands ...Honolulu Henry A. Peirce, Mass 7,500 1869 

Netherlands , . . .Hague Chas. T. Gorham, Mich 7,500 1870 

Portugal Lisbon Benjamin Moran. 7,500 1874 

Sweden and Norway Stockholm C. C. Andrews, Minn 7,.500 1869 

Switzerland .....Berne Horace Rublee, Wis 7,500.... 1869 

Turkey Constantinople . George H. Boker, Penn 7,500 — 1870 

Uruguay & Paraguay Montevideo John C. Caldwell, Me 10,000 1874 

U. S. of Columbia. Bogota Wm. L. Scruggs, Ga 7,500. . . .1873 

Venezuela Caracas Thomas Russell, Mass 7,500 1874 

MINISTERS RESIDENT AND CONSULS GENERAL. 

Hayti Port-au-Prince. . E. D. Bassett, Pa 7,500 1869 

Liberia. . , Mom-ovia J. Milton Turner, Mo 4,000 1871 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP THE STATES 




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